Sales of electricity storage batteries from home solar panels can rise 59% this year in Germany, as more residents seek a cheaper, renewable and more reliable source of energy supply, industry association BVES announced today.

“We expect to surpass the 1 million unit level in 2023”BVES announced, presenting research conducted by 3Energie Consulting on behalf of the industry.

This foresees sales of 385,000 units, in addition to the 650,000 that had been sold by the end of 2022, with which their total number will rise to 1,035,000.

Households in Germany have 2.65 million solar panels installed on their roofss that generate electricity at home. However, before the availability of household batteries for energy storage, the current produced by photovoltaic panels went exclusively to the grid.

More families, usually in single-family homes, are now buying storage batteries as their prices drop.

Sector turnover can increase by 25% in one year to 3 billion euros in 2023 from 2.4 billion in 2022, when it had grown 85%, according to data presented by 3Energie.

Sales of home batteries are also on the rise due to high energy prices after Russia cut off gas supplies to western Europe, as well as a desire by homeowners to become independent from central providers, and growing sales of electric cars, which can be charged with electricity generated at home.

“These factors will remain unchanged, resulting in further expansion of growth — production facilities have been expanded,” the advisory group says about 2023.

Also, there is collaboration between various renewable energy applications, he points out. Around 40% of households using solar panels also use electric pumps to provide domestic heating, many of which are supplemented by buffer storage units, and 36% of these households also own an electric car.

Total sales in the household segment, which also includes heat pumps and storage units, rose 61% in 2022 to 7.1 billion euros and could rise 45% this year to 10.3 billion, he adds, pointing out that the tight supply of labor to install the equipment was a problem.