Mercedes-Benz announces environmentally friendly batteries to rival Tesla's
The new energy storage plants, which allow those with solar panels, for example, to store surplus power are available to order online now and are expected to be shipped in September.
The batteries were first developed for cars, but Mercedes-Benz said the energy storage units "meet the very highest safety and quality standards" for home use.
Up to eight battery modules with an energy capacity of 2.5 kWh can be combined into an energy storage plant with a capacity of 20 kWh.
"Households with their own photovoltaic systems can thus buffer surplus solar power virtually free of any losses," the carmaker said in a statement.
The carmaker did not confirm the size of or pricing for the new batteries.
In May, Tesla announced its Powerwall batteries for home use and its Powerpack batteries for commercial use. Today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his company would double the power output of the Powerwall batteries but keep their prices the same.
Tesla's Powerwall batteries will go from having a two-kilowatt (kW) steady power output and 3.3kW peak output to a 5kW steady output and 7kW peak output, Musk said. The price of the batteries will remain the same: $3,000 for the 7kW/hour (KWh) daily cycle version and $3,500 (£2,200) for the 10kWh backup UPS version. Total installation cost will run around $4,000 (£2,500), according to Musk.
Up to nine Powerwall battery units can be daisy-chained together on a wall to provide up to 90kWh of power.
Tesla Energy's new commercial-grade battery is called the Powerpack, and will sell in 100kWh modules for $25,000 (£16,000) each. Musk said the Powerpack can scale infinitely, even powering factories and small cities.
Mercedes-Benz's batteries, being produced by subsidiary Deutsche Accumotive, are its first industrial-scale lithium-ion units, and they've already been tested "on the grid," the company said.
Deutsche Accumotive has traditionally developed lithium-ion batteries and the software that controls them for hybrid and electric vehicles.
Daimler said it plans to enter into partnerships with other sales and distribution channels to sell its home and industrial batteries at the international level.