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AGL trumps Tesla with batteries-and-solar-cell package

Adds home storage to solar power offering

You could almost pity Australian energy company AGL: while Elon Musk was displaying Tesla's Powerwall to a breathless, waiting world, it quietly entered the consumer battery storage market and nobody noticed.

The utility, which has been sniffing around the renewable market for some time and recently decided it would “decarbonise” its electricity generation efforts by 2050, announced on Friday that it's going to offer batteries to those of its customers that have grid-connected solar.

It's not, however, entering the Elon Musk Global Battery Beauty Pageant. The Power Advantage is a more conventional battery, and the utility will have multiple battery suppliers for the program.

The entire system – 4.5 kW of solar with 7.2 kWh of battery storage – offers a 3 kW output, installation, a distribution panel and support.

Price will depend on what the customer buys, with an AGL spokesperson telling Vulture South: “As AGL Energy Limited is providing a broad solution to customers, the battery will be priced as part of an integrated package, which could include solar, grid energy and other services. Price will therefore vary depending on each customer’s needs. For example retrofitting a battery to an existing solar system has different cost considerations than including it as part of a new system.

“Also, we are working with a number of battery suppliers, some of which are still in negotiation with us, so we are not in a position to divulge specific prices.” ®

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