A subsidiary of German automaker Daimler has reportedly joined Tesla in the home energy storage market.
TechCrunch reports that Deutsche ACCUmotive — the Mercedes-Benz owner's lithium-ion battery division — introduced storage batteries for industrial customers last year. Recently, home storage units were introduced in Germany with plans to expand into other countries not far behind.
The introduction of a battery unit mirrors the debut of Tesla Energy roughly one year ago. Advances in the battery technology for Tesla Motors' luxury electric vehicles enabled the company to offer energy storage for homes, businesses and utilities.
The Deutsche ACCUmotive in-home batteries follow reports that Mercedes-Benz would offer a series of competing electric vehicles beginning in 2018.
Home battery storage could allow homeowners to take greater advantage of rooftop solar panels by storing the collected solar energy for future use. The technology could also negate power outages, enable the sale of energy back to the grid or, eventually, allow users to leave the grid entirely.
Daimler's batteries are shaped like columns and have a capacity of up to 2.5 kilowatt-hours of energy. Up to eight batteries can be combined for a capacity of 20 kWh, which the company said was enough to capture and store solar energy with little to no loss.
