How cost-effective is a home battery?

How much does a home battery cost?

Home battery prices vary depending on the brand, type and capacity. Nowadays, – depending on the brand and capacity (on average from 3 to 10 kWh) – you pay between EUR 5,000 and EUR 11,000 for a home battery.

Is a home battery cost-effective?

Home battery without solar panels

It is possible to install a home battery without solar panels. At night, you can have the home battery charged with electricity from the grid at a cheap night rate. You can then use this stored electricity during the day. This means that you only buy your electricity at the economical night rate. But the average family does not profit more than 100 euros a year in this case: far too little to offset the current purchase price of the home battery within a reasonable amount of time. So, a home battery without solar panels is not cost-effective.

Home battery with solar panels

With the help of a home battery, solar panel owners can see their self-consumption increase from 30% to 70%.

Whether a home battery is profitable in your situation depends on several factors: purchase price, capacity and lifetime of the home battery, output of your solar panels, your (own) consumption, and so on.

Considering the current prices and capacity of a home battery, a payback period of 10 years is possible today, but only in combination with solar panels. Good news about lifespan: in the European market, most battery manufacturers offer a 10-year warranty, but studies show that the lifespan of the current generation of batteries is around 15 years. Just keep in mind that a battery that discharges fully frequently will have a shorter lifespan.

Make your battery smart and your investment profitable

Did you know that you can also add smart control to your home battery? This device automatically balances your energy consumption for optimal savings. It takes into account your consumption habits, the weather and the production of your solar panels. As a result, your power peaks flatten out. Smart control ensures that you only purchase power from the grid and return it at the most beneficial rates. This leads to annual savings of over €500 for the average family. In other words, investing in a home battery is profitable and worthwhile in this case.