Do solar-battery systems reduce energy costs?

On average, households achieve a 14.7% reduction in electricity costs or cover approximately 50.5% of their essential energy needs during outages, underscoring the substantial potential of solar–battery systems to enhance energy affordability and resilience for households.

What is the economic viability of solar-battery systems?

The economic viability of solar–battery systems is characterized by whether, and to what extent, a household can reduce its overall electricity costs through the installation of solar PV, battery storage or both technologies in combination.

How do we assess economic viability of solar PV and battery storage installations?

To assess economic viability, we formulate each household’s decision regarding solar PV and battery storage installations as a mixed-integer optimization problem. The objective is to minimize the household’s annualized electricity costs (AEC econ).

Do US households benefit from solar PV & battery storage under NBT?

Our findings show that a majority of US households stand to benefit from solar PV and battery storage under NBT, with 60.3% potentially reducing their electricity costs and 62.7% achieving affordable back-up power.

Does a solar-battery backup increase electricity costs?

To ensure affordability, we impose a constraint that the expected household electricity costs under the back-up plan do not exceed those of a scenario with no solar or battery. This ensures that installing solar–battery systems for backup does not increase a household’s overall electricity expenses relative to having no installations.

What are the benefits of rooftop solar and battery storage?

Rooftop solar and battery storage can reduce energy costs and provide affordable back-up power for over 60% of US households, but benefits often bypass the high outage risk and disadvantaged communities most in need.