Deployments of home energy storage systems reached record heights in the first quarter of 2018, Energy Storage Association (ESA) announced on Wednesday.
The latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report from GTM Research and ESA showed that 36 megawatt-hours of grid-connected residential energy storage systems were deployed in the first three months of this year, ESA said.
This is equivalent to the amount of residential storage deployed in the previous three quarters combined, ESA highlighted.
The report noted that California and Hawaii together constituted 74 percent of residential deployments during the quarter.
“Changing net-metering rules and increasing customer interest in backup and solar self-consumption drove the residential energy storage market’s record quarter,” Brett Simon, senior analyst at GTM Research and project manager for the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report, was quoted as saying.
“More solar installers are offering residential storage products than ever before and see residential storage as an important area of business growth, particularly as utilities implement time-of-use rates and reduce net-metering compensation. These policy trends are expected to continue as utilities and regulators work to deal with increasing levels of solar PV penetration, which are driving increasing residential storage demand,' he continued.
Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of ESA, also said with the U.S. energy storage market demonstrating a continued upward growth trajectory in the first quarter of 2018, the industry is moving closer to its vision of 35 gigawatts of new energy storage installations by 2025.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
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