Install a Home Battery

Summary: Install a home battery to reduce peak electricity usage

Description

Did you know? GELD has almost 19 MW of grid-scale battery storage located in three sites in Groton: the new Florence Roche Elementary School, the GELD substation and the Groton School. These batteries are part of an innovative program to lower our electricity usage from the regional grid during peak usage times. The two largest batteries at Flo Ro and the substation were flipped on in the summer of 2024, and GELD has already reported the batteries’ contribution to summer peak shaving in their monthly meetings.

Did you also know? Home battery storage can be used in a similar way to decrease your household’s peak electricity usage, thereby decreasing monthly electricity bills and the overall carbon footprint of your electricity usage. The benefit comes from charging the home battery during off-peak hours using low cost off-peak grid electricity or home solar-generated electricity and then discharging the battery during peak hours to reduce the amount of electricity needed from the grid. Home battery backup also is a great alternative to a gas generator in case of a power outage, providing 10 to 20 hours of backup depending on usage. Visit our Deeper Dive page to learn how to know what size battery might work best based on your electricity usage.

There is a federal tax credit for home battery storage that may apply to ANY Groton resident.  The Residential Clean Energy tax credits provided through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 covers 30% of the cost of home battery storage with greater than 3kWh of capacity.  You can learn more about this tax credit here: Battery Storage Technology Tax Credit | ENERGY STAR

Deep Dive

Home batteries range in size up to 18kWh.The size of the battery and the rate at which it can discharge will determine how much peak time electricity usage a home battery can supply. For example, a 10kWh battery could power 5 kW of electricity demand for 2 hours. To know what percentage of your peak electricity usage a particular battery would offset, you need to determine your electricity usage. There are a few ways you can determine your household peak electricity usage to know how a particular battery can serve you: 

1. GELD provides FREE access to your electricity usage through its MyMeter site, allowing you to understand your overall electricity usage throughout the day and day-to-day. 

2. A wifi enabled home energy monitor combines individual device monitoring and control with overall household use tracking that you can access through a smartphone app. 

3. A smart electrical panel can monitor and manage load either as an add-on to the panel you already have or integrated into a new panel if you are upgrading. 

Coming in the future: Increasingly, electric vehicles will be manufactured with bidirectional charging, allowing a user to discharge the vehicle battery to their home to offset grid electricity usage during peak hours, similar to a home battery. However, for those of us who are on taxi-duty for kids during peak hours or who are not yet ready to make the change to a full battery electric vehicle, a home battery might remain a great option.

Steps to Take

1. Go to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Battery Storage page for a great introduction.

2. Determine your electricity usage to know the appropriate size of battery for your home. Visit the Deeper Dive page to learn how to do this.

3. Reach out to a qualified installer for a free consultation.

4. Let us know how it goes if you do install battery storage, either by contacting us HERE, or signing up and leaving a testimonial!