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Michael Taylor29 May 2015
NEWS

Benz to power houses too

Daimler follows Tesla lead to charge houses using electric-vehicle technology

The world’s oldest car company has set its sights on becoming the world’s newest household and industrial energy supplier.

While Tesla has stolen the headlines by suggesting it will sell its Model S batteries to help houses store off-peak and renewable electricity, Daimler already has a lithium-ion battery working on Germany’s electricity grid and will go fully commercial in September.

With no German government support for electric vehicles, Daimler has changed tack to help recoup decades of research and plans to offer battery storage set-ups for heavy industry, mid-sized facilities like supermarkets and, soon, households.

Its ACCUmotive subsidiary already has its first large industrial storage setup, with Daimler christening it a “stationary energy storage”, which sounds a lot like the thinking – and practice – behind stationary internal combustion engines.

Daimler founded ACCUmotive in 2009 to develop and sell (even internally) the lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid and electric smarts and Mercedes-Benz models.

Its first stationary energy storage setup is operated by a German electricity joint-venture, Coulomb, to stabilize the Saxony Kamenz power grid by smoothing out the peaks and troughs in power delivery.

It uses 96 lithium-ion modules with more than 500kWh of energy storage, though it plans to expand that to 3000kWh within weeks.

“Mercedes-Benz energy storage systems are the best proof that lithium-ion batteries made in Germany are a model for the future, and not just in cars,” Mercedes-Benz Cars head of electrics/electronic development and E-Drive, Harald Kröger, said.

“With our comprehensive battery knowhow at Deutsche ACCUmotive, we can accelerate the energy revolution both on the road and in the power of businesses and households.

“What we have already proven over millions of kilometres travelled in the most adverse conditions, such as heat and cold and rain and snow, we bring to create the best technology for stationary use.

Daimler and its subsidiaries have been working on repurposing its zero-emissions road-car technologies for industrial and household purposes since 2012, he said.

“We have opened up new growth opportunities with our entry in to the new business field of stationary energy storage for industrial and private clients.”

It already has more industrial plans, including a system for EnBW in retail banking, and is chasing wider distribution around the planet.

“The system developed by Daimler Business Innovation goes far beyond industrial use.

“The operation in mid-trade, such as supermarkets, can also benefit enormously from stationary energy storage by using buffering during consumption peaks, such as on hot days,” he said.

"It is also suitable for private use, so it can be that households can mate it with their own photovoltaic systems, catching the excess solar electricity with virtually no loss.”

It already has test units running for both light industrial, commercial and private use, with private battery modules able to store 2.5kWh and the industrial versions taking 5.9kWh.

“For the private sector, up to eight modules can be combines to give 20kWh of storage, and they can be scaled for commercial and industrial use,” he said.

ACCUmotive has already delivered more than 60,000 lithium-ion batteries and employs more than 250 people near Stuttgart.

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Written byMichael Taylor
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