Panasonic signs ‘solar and storage’ partners in Australia

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Panasonic’s residential storage system launched to the Australian market. To give an idea of scale the system is just under 1.4 metres in height and just under a metre across. Image: Panasonic Australia.
While debates over renewable energy targets continue to rage at the political level in Australia, Panasonic has signed a deal with three utility companies to pair its energy storage systems with rooftop solar.

The electronics company, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, will see its residential lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery systems installed at the homes of existing rooftop solar customers for Red Energy, a subsidiary of electricity generator and retailer Snowy Hydro, Ergon Energy, owned by the government of Queensland and ActewAGL, which is described as Australia’s first multi-utility.

The Panasonic systems have an 8kWh usable capacity at 2kW output, meaning it can push out 2kW of energy for four hours. The trial programmes will test multiple use cases for the batteries, with the main one being for peak shaving- mitigating time of use charges for electricity in the evenings when usage peaks.

Panasonic says it hopes it can “provide a reliable, efficient base load for solar-installed households” and claims that based on the company’s own modelling, the amount of solar a household system owner can ‘self-consume’ onsite can be increased from 30% without storage to 60% with.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

In addition to this peak shaving aspect, the utilities will also trial using the storage systems for demand response- balancing electricity supply with demand through the grid, which can potentially have numerous advantages including reducing the need for infrastructure investment. Technical details of the trials have not yet been announced.

The battery systems are manufactured in Japan, but as regular followers of energy industry news will know, the company is Tesla’s manufacturing partner for battery packs at its Gigafactory in Nevada, which is still under construction. The Japanese company is trialling a number of its own approaches to the storage and solar markets, including preparing for Japan’s forthcoming energy market deregulation, recently showcasing a home system that allows users to ‘trade’ electricity, buying at the cheapest possible prices from the grid when necessary and selling excess home-generated PV power at the most attractive prices. An Australian company, Reposit Power, has notably started a scheme for electricity trading, called ‘Grid Credits’ recently, which Tesla, has also partnered with on a trial basis.

John Grimes, executive director of Australia’s Energy Storage Council, is a regular Guest Blogger for PV Tech Storage. In a recent post, Grimes argued that in spite of the anti-renewables stance exhibited by the government led by prime minister Tony Abbott, (whom Grimes compared to King Canute making a futile attempt to hold back the tide) the economics of solar, especially when paired with storage, remain attractive in Australia.

Read Next

September 4, 2025
Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced its largest-ever investment commitment, with AU$3.8 billion (US$2.5 billion) allocated to support the Marinus Link interconnector connecting the states of Tasmania and Victoria.
September 4, 2025
Australian battery storage developer Akaysha Energy has secured an AU$300 million (US$196 million) corporate debt facility to accelerate its growing portfolio of utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects across Australia and global markets.
September 3, 2025
During the morning of 30 August 2025, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) responded to a possible vegetation fire in the area of independent power producer (IPP) Arevon Energy’s California Flats solar-plus-storage project.
September 3, 2025
910MWh of BESS in Queensland, Australia, has been added to AEMO’s Market Management System, signalling readiness for commissioning.
September 2, 2025
Energy-Storage.news speaks with Karina Hershberg, Associate Principal at engineering firm PAE Engineers, on integrating microgrids with sustainable building design.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter