The Duke Energy director of business development made this dramatic prediction in Chicago last Thursday. Although it did not surprise us, as we have been tracking falling storage battery prices since 2014. However, his choice of words “ batteries will blanket the U.S. ” did knock us back a bit. For we had not heard that turn of phrase before.
How Batteries Will Blanket the U.S. in 5 Years
Duke Energy’s Spencer Hanes holds a master of studies in environmental law and policy from Vermont law school. He expects batteries will ‘sprout all over the electric grid as utilities and homeowners drop in on a wave of falling prices.’
Storage battery prices have fallen from around $800 per kilowatt hour in 2012 to $281 last year. This brought the householders’ dream of solar + storage tantalizing closer. So yes, it does seem likely that batteries will blanket the United States surprisingly soon.
What This Could Mean for Legacy Energy
Emotions are running high around the topic of the coal industry. We have heard talk of a cost-recovery rule that could hold up battery storage rollout a while longer. Spencer Hanes describes the thirst for home solar power as ‘almost like an emotion’ because the economic argument does not always make sense.
He believes it is more a question of a defiant attitude towards grids, and a desire to be independent. We can relate to this, but we believe there is more to it than that. We think American consumers are ahead of the curve compared to regulators, when it comes to the green revolution.
Why Batteries Will Blanket the U.S. Soon
There is a hugely feel-good factor to doing something personally to counter global warming. “If a person wants solar + storage on their home and it doesn’t make perfect economic sense – we all do things in our lives that don’t make economic sense,” Spencer Hanes says. The point is, the future is coming where it’s going to make sense, and we need to get ready for it now.
Related
Great Leap Forward for China Solar Energy
Battery Storage Set to Boom in 2017
Preview Image: Solar Power Advertisement
