Solar Watt bends muscles in a household energy storage battle with Shell, Tesla – Illinoisnewstoday.com

Frankfurt, July 7 (Reuters)-Germany’s Solarwatt, backed by BMW’s billionaire shareholder Stefan Quandt, allows homeowners to link rooftop solar panels to power storage batteries and electric vehicles for costs We are planning to release a small module that can reduce the amount.

Wall boxes allow homeowners to control when and how much of their own photovoltaic (PV) electricity is stored, used to charge electric vehicles (EVs), or sold to the grid. ..

Move aims to own the shell (RDSa.L) sonnen, BYD in China (002592.SZ),, German E3 / DC, EnBW (EBKG.DE) Senec, LG Chem (051910.KS), Varta (VAR1.DE) And Tesla (TSLA.O)According to EuPD Research, it dominates the home storage market.

“Energy managers are the brains of the home,” Solar Watt’s vice president of customer solutions, Peter Buckman, told Reuters ahead of its planned launch on Wednesday.

“Intelligently distributes the power from the roof.”

The Manager Flex device looks like a wifi router and sells for around € 500 ($ 594). This allows you to integrate energy flows and gadgets such as rooftop panels, batteries, electric heat pumps and EV charging boxes at home. ..

Following household storage batteries Coping With BMW (BMWG.DE) Last month, SolarWat, which also operates in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia, aims to become a top five player by the end of 2022, Buckman said.

By bringing the power and automotive divisions closer together, Quandt, who owns almost half of BMW with his sister Susanne Klatten, gets a page from Tesla’s strategy book, which includes products ranging from solar roof installation to automobiles. I am.

“It shows that DNA has a holistic mindset,” Kvanto, who owns the majority of Solar Watts, said last month.

Germany is a clear starting point. Equipped with 300,000 stationary batteries, it is the world’s top home storage market ahead of the United States, Japan and Australia.

The German battery market has grown 10-fold since 2015 and is expected to grow by 60% this year. It is backed by 16 million homeowners, of whom 2 million operate solar panels.

Home energy components and management systems need to be digitally linked so that customers can monitor production, usage, prices and engage in the grid.

Air conditioning suppliers such as Viessmann and solar inverter manufacturer SMA (S92G.DE) We are also developing steering devices to draw customers into the virtual community.

“The decisive factor is who supplies the entire home system, from solar to batteries to (EV) wall boxes,” said Andreas Radics, a partner at Beryls Strategy Advisors.

Currently, producing 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar power in Germany costs 7 euro cents, which is one-fifth of grid electricity.

By installing panels for power generation, installing electric heat pumps to replace oil and gas boilers, and purchasing EVs instead of gasoline-powered vehicles, CO2 emissions can be reduced by 89%.

That is whether you can afford it.

PV and battery systems combined can cost around € 15,000, electric heating systems cost an additional € 10,000, and electric vehicles cost € 30,000-40,000, but knowledgeable buyers will be billed using state assistance programs. Can be halved.

Berlin is expected to exceed 1 million EV car registrations this week and up to 10 million by 2030 for those who do not respond to incentives, penalties such as a new CO2 tax on heat and automotive fuel Introduced.

“Increased EV sales will directly drive the corresponding implementation of smart energy products in the home sector,” said Stephen Apple, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Oliver Koch, CEO of Sonnen, said EVs are driving demand for EVs and batteries for the company. “One-third of buyers (in these segments) add EV chargers. I have. “

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Manufacturers, on the other hand, are looking at the home sector for the technological dynamics that create a synergistic effect between stationary and EV batteries, but more importantly because it’s where the customers are.

Like rival Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) And Daimler (DAIGn.DE)BMW is facing a loss of revenue related to combustion engines and is forced to look for new areas of future profitability.

EV makers have begun to look for links between EVs and home power circuits, to convert home and car power into one, and between EVs and grids, providing stability services and used. I am recycling the battery.

It is their concern that the wall box will be powered by solar power to support the EV’s green footprint.

If they are filled from the public power grid, EVs will necessarily have to absorb the current share of 50% fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.

“The (Germany) EV target of 10 million units can only be achieved if the industry can provide sustainable proposals to its customers,” a BMW spokeswoman said.

($ 1 = 0.8412 euros)

Edited by David Evans

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