Kyocera in Japan
Good news for solar electricity users in Japan wanting a battery backup storage unit.
Kyocera plans to start selling a system that pairs solar panels with lithium-ion batteries for the residential market in Japan starting this summer.
The system will include Kyocera’s solar energy equipment, including solar panels, inverter and software to monitor and manage energy use, with lithium-ion storage and inverter from Nichicon Corp. The battery storage, at 7.1 kilowatt hours and weighing about 200 kilograms, will feature lithium-ion cells from Samsung.
Kyocera said it has developed hardware and software to control the charge and discharge of solar electricity and manage that supply and demand for both feeding the solar electricity into the home or the grid.
As reported on Renewable Energy World, Kyocera and Nichicon say they are rolling out this new system in Japan because of demand for residential backup power supply following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster nearly a year ago.
The idea of pairing solar panels with energy storage helps homeowners wanting to use solar in times when the sun isn’t shining. In addition, the battery pack can provide backup power should there be a power outage.
The downside to this storage option: lithium-ion batteries are expensive.
Could the idea take off sooner in Japan? It’s unclear, though of course Kyocera and other Japanese companies think there is enough market interest to launch products. Japan historically has been ahead of many countries in adopting solar and other clean energy technologies, so it could very well be a test bed for solar-cum-storage pairing.
Photo: Kyocera
About Glenn Meyers
Solar battery bank calculator is designed to calculate AC loads to DC battery banks +/- battery.The source of electricity may be a gas generator or additional solar panels.