Moixa, Northern Powergrid and Energise Barnsley are to demonstrate how clusters of home batteries can increase capacity on the electricity network and enable more homes to install solar panels.
In a £250,000 trial, Moixa lithium-ion batteries will be installed in 40 homes and linked in a virtual power plant to reduce peak solar output onto the electricity networks when there is low local demand.
The batteries will be split between 20 with a capacity of 2kWh and 20 with a capacity of 3kWh, giving a nominal total capacity of 100kWh.
The first batteries will be installed at the end of January and will cost residents nothing.
Electricity distributor Northern Powergrid, is funding installation of the batteries in Oxspring, near Barnsley, in properties owned by Barnsley Council and managed by Berneslai Homes.
Community energy company Energise Barnsley has rolled out solar to homes in the area but came up against some network constraints in the village which meant that five houses could not be connected within the timescales of the project.
The trial will include all 30 homes in the housing estate with solar PV panels plus 10 others without.
Moixa chief executive Simon Daniel said: “Solar homes with batteries can halve their electricity bills, and this solution will become increasingly popular as costs.
“This project will deliver insights to develop incentives which we hope will allow us to roll out solar plus storage to tens of thousands of homes in their region by creating a business case for homeowners to invest and also by increasing the number of solar connections allowed on each substation.”
Image: Domestic energy storage battery (Moixa)
