• Home battery owners can earn a minimum of £2 per kWh for their stored energy to help stabilize the grid during peak-hour DFS events – earning them up to £25 per event*
• This follows the successful trial of last winter’s first home battery DFS scheme, where battery owners earned up to ten times more financial incentives than participants paid by the DFS for manually reducing their energy consumption.
• Innovative technology autonomously charges and discharges a homeowner’s battery, enabling them to earn financial incentives from the DFS without having to manually operate their batteries or reduce their electricity use during peak hours.
• “The ability to participate in the DFS with a battery and not have to reduce home energy use in the evening is genius,” Bob Mann, a SolarEdge solar + battery owner in Hampshire who participated in last winter’s home battery scheme.

LONDON, UK (December 14, 2023) – SolarEdge Technologies, a global leader in smart energy technology, today announced the return of its innovative home battery scheme within Great Britain’s ESO Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), in conjunction with UK energy infrastructure company, Smart Metering Systems Plc (SMS).

In contrast to homeowners paid by the DFS for manually reducing their energy consumption, SolarEdge Home Battery owners with an eligible smart meter can now earn more financial incentives for their stored energy to help stabilize the grid during peak hour events. Battery owners can earn a minimum of £2 per kWh of stored battery power, equating in potential earnings of up to £25 per event*. SolarEdge’s innovative technology remotely schedule participants’ batteries to autonomously charge ahead of each DFS event and then maximize energy export to the grid during the event itself – enabling battery owners to earn passive income without having to manually operate their batteries or change their home electricity usage during peak hours.

The use of home batteries within the DFS – a first-of-its-kind last winter – can deliver compelling incentives for participants, with battery owners last winter earning up to ten times more financial incentives on average than participants paid by the DFS for manually reducing their energy consumption. In last winter’s DFS, the highest financial incentive received by a battery owner during a single DFS event reached £25.60, with the average incentive received per event equating to £6.52. In comparison, UK DFS participants manually reducing their energy use received approximately 90 pence per DFS event on average.

Bob Mann, a SolarEdge solar + battery owner in Farnborough, Hampshire, who participated in last winter’s home battery scheme, says: “For my wife and I, contributing to the DFS scheme with our home battery was a no-brainer. The financial return was a nice bonus, but our satisfaction came from having an active role in helping to stabilize the National Grid. Reducing energy consumption during peak hours when families are getting together for dinner is difficult, so the ability to participate in the DFS with a battery and not have to reduce home energy use in the evening is genius. Also, little effort is required as the entire process of charging and discharging the battery is externally remote controlled, but we also retain the control to remove ourselves at any time.”

The home battery scheme also delivers added value to the grid during the DFS. Last winter, participating batteries reduced demand on the grid up to six times more than UK homeowners manually reducing their home energy consumption. On average, battery participants exported 2.7 kWh to the grid per DFS event, compared to less than 0.5 kWh reduction in grid demand on average per manual turn-down participant.

Amit Larom, VP & Regional General Manager Western Europe at SolarEdge, comments: “Having been taken aback by the positive feedback we received from participating battery owners last winter, we’re delighted to bring back our home battery scheme with SMS for the upcoming season. SolarEdge Home battery owners can effortlessly contribute to a more resilient and efficient energy grid, while enjoying financial incentives – without having to manually reduce their home energy consumption during peak hours. For grid operators such as the ESO, the ability to leverage stored battery power from the community allows them to better respond to ever-increasing peaks in demand.”

Mark Hamilton, Managing Director FlexiGrid at SMS, adds: “We’re delighted to be supporting SolarEdge again this year in bringing their battery customers into our award-winning DFS Service. SolarEdge and their customers set the benchmark last year in showing how home batteries can and will play a major role in seamlessly delivering grid balancing services. Homeowners are rewarded for participation without ever having to lift a finger or change their electricity consumption behaviour.”

—END—

*Size of financial incentive earned depends on the DFS bid price accepted by ESO, the length of the event, and the battery’s power capacity.