Home batteries in New Jersey

Home batteries as a means of supplying backup power during a power outage or reducing reliance on the grid are growing in popularity across the country. New Jersey is no different. 2021 was a record year with almost twice as many home batteries installed as in 2020.

Here are a few facts on home batteries in NJ:

• The first home battery was installed in 2017
• By the end of 2021 a total of 807 batteries had been installed in NJ homes 
• The most popular home battery is Tesla’s Powerwall which accounts for 71% of all home batteries installed in NJ
• LG Chem is a distant second with 21% of all home batteries installed in NJ

Here’s the overall deployment of home batteries in NJ over the years:

Contractor experience with home batteries

15 different contractors installed home batteries in 2021, but overall 85% of all home batteries installed in NJ were installed by either Tesla or Sunrun

Despite home battery installations more than doubling in 2021, the installation of home batteries in NJ is heavily concentrated under Sunrun with 199 home battery installations in 2021. The next largest installer of home batteries being Tesla at 34. Only two other contractors, Green House Solar (15) and Suntuity (12) installed more than 10 home batteries in 2021.

Top 5 most popular battery models

Tesla’s Powerwall and LG Chem’s RESU 10 were the two most popular home batteries installed in 2021, yet both were predominantly installed by one contractor:  Sunrun.  In 2021, Sunrun installed 91 out of 134  Tesla Powerwalls and 108  out of 111 LG Chem home batteries.

Home batteries and solar leases or solar PPAs

In NJ in 2021, 45% of homeowners chose to own their own home solar system while 55% chose to have a third-party own the system. Home batteries follow a similar pattern with a slightly higher 49% of homeowners choosing to own their home batteries while 51% chose to have a third-party own the batteries.

While there are certain cases where it might make sense to have a third-party own your home solar and battery, in general homeowners are better off owning their own home solar system and battery. You can learn more about owning vs. having a third-party own your home solar here.

Should you consider a home battery?

Homeowner interest in home batteries has grown significantly in recent years and for good reason. With increasing storms and grid reliability issues, home batteries are a quiet and clean way to power your home or critical appliances in your home if the grid goes down. When paired with an appropriately sized home solar system, home batteries also reduce your dependence on the utility by storing solar energy during the day and using that energy to power your home when the sun goes down.

While home batteries are still very expensive, being able to take advantage of the 26% Federal Solar Tax Credit helps with the cost. A home battery is eligible for the tax credit if it is installed within one year of a home solar system and is charged only by your home solar.

These are three important things to know about home batteries:

• Home batteries allow your home solar system to work when the grid goes down
• For optimal performance a home battery system needs to be custom-designed in conjunction with your home solar system
• The cost of a home battery system is directly related to how many appliances you want to power and for how long

The cost of home batteries has decreased significantly in recent years and will continue to decrease significantly in the coming years. However at this point home batteries are really only affordable if you limit the number of appliances you want to power and only expect to be able to power them for a day or two. Powering your whole home for multiple days is simply out of reach for most homeowners.

Make no mistake, batteries (whether a standalone home battery or an electric vehicle battery pack) paired with home solar will be the norm in the future. But there’s still a ways to go before home batteries are economical for most homeowners.

Learn more about home batteries here.

Want to learn more about what’s going on with home solar, including how many home batteries have been installed in your area?  Click here to check out our Solar in My Neighborhood lookup tool.

Ready to see whether your home has good solar potential? Get started with a free Solar Assessment.

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