Utility Involvement in the Emerging U.S. Residential Energy Storage Market is Expected to Be Crucial to Further Growth

A new slide-based report from Navigant Research analyzes the U.S. residential energy storage (RES) market, focusing on the value these systems can provide customers and grid operators, as well as on collaborations between utilities and leading vendors, with system cost projections and adoption forecasts provided through 2025.

Momentum in the RES market is increasingly rapidly thanks to a growing residential solar PV industry, falling system costs, the need to improve resilience, and the desire to use clean and locally generated electricity. RES systems have the potential to alter the electricity industry in terms of the grid's physical structure, as well as business models and utilities' relationships with their customers. 

"Residential storage offers numerous benefits for utilities and grid operators, perhaps most notably the ability to reduce congestion on the network and limit the need for peak capacity resources," says Alex Eller, research analyst at Navigant Research. "These systems can also be the solution to many issues grid operators face from high levels of solar PV penetration."

Despite showing potential, the RES industry is very much a developing market, and the economics still do not justify the high upfront cost for installing these systems, according to the report. Collaborations between utilities and residential system providers have been one of the key factors in the industry's growth to date, and utility involvement is expected to be crucial to further growth in the U.S. market.

The report, Residential Energy Storage Systems, examines the RES market in the United States. The report focuses on the value these systems can provide both customers and grid operators, as well as on collaborations between utilities and leading vendors. System cost projections and adoption forecasts are provided through 2025. Featuring Navigant Research's Utility Technology Disruption Matrix and Execution Grid, the report also examines implications for traditional utility business models, provides utility case studies, and offers strategic recommendations for industry stakeholders to position for long-term success. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant Research website.

This report is part of a Navigant Research series called Utility Technology Disruption, which highlights new technologies that can pose both threats and opportunities to utilities and provides insights into new business models for utilities to take advantage of these disruptions.

Navigant Research | www.navigantresearch.com

Navigant Consulting, Inc. | www.navigant.com