Christchurch company ArcActive has unveiled its plan to manufacture its new lead acid home battery energy storage systems – and intends to sell them for half the price of a Tesla Powerwall.
ArcActive designed the system to sit behind the power meter, helping homeowners with solar panels store their energy.
Similar systems are already available but ArcActive believes its system will be significantly cheaper.
Next month they'll attempt to raise $70 million to build its first factory and bring the system into commercial production.
Chief executive Stuart McKenzie told One Step Off The Grid Australia he expects the $30 million factory - planned for either Queensland or Victoria, Australia - to take 12 months to kit out followed by a six month testing period.
The factory would aim to produce 30,000 battery packs a year at a price of $4900 for the parts or $7000 installed.
The Tesla Powerwall 2 goes for up to $17,000 in New Zealand and around $13,000-$15,000 in Australia.
McKenzie told One Step Off The Grid they will be able to charge much less because the raw materials in its lead acid battery are so much cheaper than those in a lithium-ion battery.
“Batteries are mostly a materials cost game and lead is cheap, is the bottom line,” he told RenewEconomy.
“Especially once you get into recycling, I can’t see how anyone could beat the lead acid cost structure.”
RNZ and Star News
