Another offering has hit the residential energy storage market last week with the launch of a 6.4kWh battery system from South Korean appliance manufacturers LG Chem that approaches the key $1,000/kWh mark.
LG Chem’s Residential Energy Storage Unit (RESU) will be made available to consumers in the next few weeks, and follows the release into the Australian market of AU Optronics, and rival offerings from Samsung, Enphase, Panasonic and SMA.
But the LG Chem system is already bringing costs down at the top end of the market – matching the assumed pricing of the much vaunted Tesla Powerwall, with the advantage that it is actually in the market.
The RESU 6.4kWhr battery is similar in size, shape and capacity, to the Tesla offering, and is expected to last 15 to 20 years, or at least 6,000 cycles. It is being offered in Australia at $A6,898.
LG Chem, in its blurb to installers, says it expect the units to have a retail price of a bit more than $1000 per kW/h ex GST plus inverter solution. “The cost curve will come down over time,” it says.
The units can be upgraded to a total of 12.8kWh with 3.2kWh expansion units. LG Chem says these are expected to be slightly more than 50% of the RESU 6.4Ex price.
The LG Chem RESU can be used as both a hybrid and or off-grid solution and allows for high output with extremely long life spans, which are backed by trusted warranties.
This article was originally published on RenewEconomy’s sister site, One Step Off The Grid. To sign up for the OSOTG newsletter, please click here.
© 2015 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
Hi Giles,
That’s a great news from LG to all the Australians who are willing to install energy efficient solar power systems for their homes. The best thing i like in it is it will be used as both a hybrid and or off-grid which will encourage more and more people to opt for it and yes it will surely give a tough competition to its rivals in terms of price.
Thanks for sharing this useful article with us.