Published on September 14, 2017
The two questions consumers are constantly asking these days:
- How do I combat rising electricity prices?; and
- How do I keep the power on if the electricity network fails?
The answer to both of these questions is battery storage or Energy Storage System (ESS) as they are known in the industry.
With the release of BYD’s new scalable HV B-Box you now have a residential battery system that can be scaled to suit the size of the PV system you are installing and the customer’s demand. The BYD HV B-Box coupled with the SMA Sunny Storage can just as easily be retrofitted to an existing solar power system. What we like most about the BYD B-Box when compared to the competition is its scalability. Residential household have the ability to scale their battery system as their demand grows.
Some of the key technical specifications of the BYD HV B-Box include:
- High power output – the system is able to reach C rate at max 1C and 2C at peak;
- Extremely high charge and discharge rate of 1hr.
- Safe battery chemistry – Li-FePO4 which has a thermal runway temperature of over 480°C;
- Flexible extension – modular design allowing B-Box to be expanded to meet future demand; and
- Better efficiency with natural cooling – also enabling the battery to operate without additional fan noise
Batteries are the core component of any Energy Storage System and they ultimately reduce home owner’s reliance on the grid. Imagine the independence home owners can have with a solar system coupled with a battery that charges from the solar system and discharges when demand from the home requires. Free from the burden of increasing energy prices and a system that levels out supply and demand in the house and the overall grid, consumers can only win.
The market potential for residential battery storage is enormous. There are over 1 million households that already have a PV system and that number continues to grow as energy prices rise. The beauty about the BYD HV B-Box is that it can be installed on new solar PV systems and retrofitted to existing solar PV systems. With an existing PV system, you only need three additional components to turn it into a full-fledged storage system:
- SMA Sunny Boy Storage
- SMA Energy Meter
- BYD B-Box HV
BYD is one of the most flexible solution on the market today. The Residential battery storage solutions are easily scalable from 6.4kWh to 11.52kWh, and it even has the ability to scale up to 50kWh for very large residential or small commercial applications, making it a perfect choice for retrofit applications.
The SMA’s Sunny Boy Storage, is AC Coupled and can be installed in any location regardless if there is already a PV system installed. The Sunny Boy Storage is one of the most cost-effective AC-connected battery inverters on the market. With 97% efficiency, it allows for optimal use of stored energy. The other advantage of the SMA Sunny Storage inverter is the simplicity for quick and straightforward one-person installation.
Overall the BYD B-Box HV / SMA ESS Solution is extremely flexible in design and performance, it is backed by the largest lithium ion manufacturer, BYD, and is simple to install. We may have an early winning combination in the red hot residential storage market.