New performance standards for home battery storage systems

A consortium led by DNV GL, an international accredited registrar and classification society, is developing a new Australian Battery Performance Standard.

The standard is intended to cover battery systems ranging from residential to small commercial systems, with an estimated maximum size estimate of 100 kW peak power and 200 kWh stored energy connected to a solar PV system.

The consortium includes the  Smart Energy Council, Deakin University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). CSIRO will predominantly provide input for developing testing protocols, Deakin University will explore battery capacity estimation approaches and the Smart Energy Council will provide an interface with local industry stakeholders.

The project will analyse Australian and international battery performance testing and consult with stakeholders in order to come up with a proposed Australian Battery Performance Standard. This will initiate the formal standard development process with Standards Australia.

DNV GL will lead the project and prepare a draft proposal for the standard, providing input on the proposed testing requirements, drawing on its extensive experience with equivalent standards elsewhere in the world and the insights from its battery test laboratories in the US and Europe.

The proposed new standard is expected to help residential and smaller commercial consumers make more informed buying decisions and drive confidence in the nascent domestic-scale energy storage market.

The role of energy storage in Australia’s energy system is expected to grow, as the country will meet its 2020 Renewable Energy Target of 33,000 GWh of additional generation, according to the Clean Energy Regulator. In the same way that domestic solar has grown to be a significant part of the energy supply mix, the addition of battery storage to these systems is expected to grow rapidly. 

The project to develop the standard is jointly financed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Victorian Government. ARENA has contributed $1.4 million, while the Victorian Government has provided $0.5 million via its New Energy Job Fund.

“The difficulty for consumers to make a well-informed choice presents a barrier to uptake of battery storage,” ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said. “This project will give consumers a more informed choice and increased confidence in deciding to invest in home batteries and rooftop solar. This project will give people easy to access information on how reliable the batteries are and how well they perform over their lifetime in Australian conditions.”

“Energy storage is a vital component in the transition to a greener energy future and, through efforts of providing the industry with performance standards, we are supporting the safe and sustainable development of the energy storage sector,” said Lucy Craig, Vice-President Technology & Innovation for Energy at DNV GL. “We look forward to building on these efforts to create a vibrant and lasting energy storage market for Australia.”

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