Home energy storage

Home energy storage refers to residential energy storage devices that store electrical energy locally for later consumption. Usually, electricity is stored in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, controlled by intelligent software to handle charging and discharging cycles. Companies are also developing smaller flow battery technology for home use. As a local energy storage technologies for home use, they are smaller relatives of battery-based grid energy storage and support the concept of distributed generation. When paired with on-site generation, they can virtually eliminate blackouts in an off-the-grid lifestyle.

The stored energy commonly originates from on-site solar photovoltaic system such as rooftop solar panels, which generate direct current electricity during daylight hours. The solar electricity can be backfed to the grid (often rewarded with a feed-in tariff) via a solar inverter, or it can be stored in a home energy storage system as a stand-alone power system for later consumption after sundown. This allows the household to take advantage of the peak solar generation during the day hours (when homes are typically unoccupied with low electricity usage due to the occupants being away at work or at school) and use it later to offset after-hour consumption from the grid, thus avoid the higher power costs during the domestic peak demand hours (usually from mid-afternoon to mid-evening). The home energy storage can also serve as a backup battery in the events of power outage to keep essential lighting, heating, computing and home medical equipment running without disruption.

Small wind turbines are less common but still available for home use as a complement or alternative to solar panels.