Home is where the batteries are
Panasonic recently announced the development and marketing of a home battery system beginning in 2011. The battery reportedly stores enough energy to run an "average home" for a week, presumably including refrigerator, microwave, computers, electric range, lighting and heating.
The advantages of such a distributed system of energy storage are multiple. Our centralized, on-demand model of energy generation and distribution requires overcapacity to manage peak usage while also wasting vast amounts of energy through long-distance transmission. Centralized systems are also vulnerable as single points of failure due to accidents or weather, rely on expensive and environmentally dubious fuel sources (coal, gas, uranium) and are expensive to build and maintain. In contrast, an energy grid based on localized, distributed storage systems could be drawn upon to smooth-out periods of peak demand and reduce loses to transmission. Home batteries would also make micro-generation of wind and solar more attractive, allowing the homeowner to store excess energy when production is good, cover their needs during intermittent periods of non-generation, and thereby encouraging such home systems to be built in the first place -- further reducing demand on centralized energy production systems. Distributed systems of energy storage are also fault tolerant. Neighbourhood grids could be developed to store and share power when transmission is interrupted or unavailable. And finally, home energy production would make consumers sensitive to their energy footprint.
Panasonic intends to sell the storage technology with a home monitoring system allowing users to manage their power consumption. Such technology would help build a "smart grid" where consumers could pre-program their system to sell power back to the grid when prices are high (such as during periods of peak demand) and store power when prices on the grid are low.
Some details are unknown about the system. An "average home" in Japan consumes 448kWh/month (kilo-watt hours per month) while consumers in the United States average 936 kWh/month and Canada 921 kW/h per month (figures from the US Energy Information Administration and the Wikipedia entry on per-capita power consumption).
As well, Panasonic is relying on Lithium-Ion battery technology which a physicist at the University of Louisiana blogs as requiring a 3000lb refrigerator-sized storage unit. Li-Ion technology is also faces a limited number of drain and recharge cycles, perhaps requiring the battery to be replaced (or reconditioned?) every few years and which might inhibit the economic benefits despite the obvious ecological benefit. Nonetheless, a distributed system of home energy generation and storage, coupled with a "smart-gid" for power sharing, is clearly a significant way to encourage micro-generation and reduce reliance on massive and environmentally destructive power plants.
10:14 PM