Opportunities in residential-scale energy storage beckon; but how can you access this market?

This is a version of an article I wrote for Renewable Energy Installer magazine, published in the latest edition.

In December 2007 a friend and I created a solar PV installation business. I think we were about the 12th company in the UK to become MCS registered. Pretty much everyone we spoke to at the time thought we were insane. “Solar won’t work in the UK”… “Solar panels are way too expensive”… “The payback is over 20 years, who is going to buy them?”… These were just some of the comments. This was, of course, over two years before Feed-in Tariffs came along. I bet those of you that have been in the industry as long have heard similar comments. Now replace the word solar with ‘energy storage’ in those comments. Probably echoes what you’ve heard, and maybe what you actually think to yourself?

The thing is, less than nine years later, for all the trials and tribulations we’ve suffered in the industry, we’re not far off having a million domestic PV installations in the country. Although energy storage is more complex than solar, and not a direct analogy, there are sufficient similarities to learn from. When we started, it was a nightmare to buy product at all, and when we did, solar panels were still nearly £3 per watt. And no FiT. The bottom line is that energy storage is a huge opportunity for solar installers. Is it an instant fix? No. Is it going to be a mass market in the next 18 months? No, probably not. It is, though, a market, and a growing market, and one that in two years will be becoming a mass market. You could, of course, wait until then, or you can get in the game now, and put yourself ahead of the pack.

I work with or speak to pretty much every storage manufacturer with product available in the UK: Sonnen, Tesla, LG Chem, SOLARWATT, Powervault, Growatt and Moixa, among others. They are all keen to build a network of qualified, ethical, professional and committed installers, and are already doing so.

Early adopters

Perhaps surprisingly, given the hype, it is Sonnen that has the largest market share globally, ahead of Tesla, and the German company is very active in the UK. I discussed the stand-out statistics from the EuPD report with Sonnen UK Country Director Martin Allman.

“No one is really tapping into the market for retrofitting storage on existing PV systems. This should be the lowest hanging fruit, particularly with the early PV adopters (pre March 2012) on the highest FiT rates,” he said. Martin is another with early UK solar experience. Selling energy storage solutions in the present market is very much like those early PV days, and not very much at all like selling PV in the Feed-in Tariff years, and that is where most installers need to adapt their thinking in order to succeed in the present market.

Martin continued: “We are in an early adopter market and installers need to tap into the buying motivations of these early adopters. It is difficult to try to quickly convince the majority of consumers of a new and innovative idea; it is better to start first with convincing the innovators and the early adopters. Who are the energy storage early adopters? These are popular, educated people – with money to invest. Often they are opinion leaders in their communities; they are more risk-oriented than most, and want to try new ideas and do things differently – but in a careful way.” 

The problem, I think, is that installers have all become used to selling on return in investment, and right now in energy storage that’s a difficult proposition to construct. With battery prices plummeting that won’t always be the case, but for now buyers have different motivations, and that’s what installers need to think about. It also leaves some room for installers to make some margin, which is essential when volumes are low, and you are learning a lot as you go along. Mistakes or customer user errors will result in return visits. You can’t provide outstanding customer service if you have no margin in the installation. See some of our top tips to succeed in an early adopter market.

Manufacturer support

The EuPD survey results do suggest that people either aren’t engaged with the concept of energy storage, or just haven’t found a brand or product they are comfortable with yet. As I know manufacturers and distributors that run energy storage seminars are oversubscribed, the latter must be true.

Before engaging with manufacturers though, or re-engaging if you’ve tried and been put off, it is important to accept that this is not at present a mass market. No manufacturer, even Tesla, can promise or offer an instant deluge of customers with cheque books open. They can, however, and do, like most installers, offer a package of support, both commercial and technical, to help you enter and succeed in the business.

One company quietly enjoying much success and growing its UK energy storage team is Growatt. I spoke with UK General Manager Scott Feng. Growatt are developing animations and marketing tools to help installers, but are very much focused on providing advanced training and instant, local technical support. Scott explained: “We have been running regular accredited installer training courses and help installers gather deeper knowledge of our battery storage solutions. We believe a qualified installer will provide better service to customers and build up confidence to sell more of our product.

“We will have two UK offices, one in the South and one in the North (open on 1st December) to provide prompt technical support when an installer needs help on site. We will also have a testing facility and demonstrator systems in our office to test and repair storage units and this will help us quickly close up new potential technical issues from customer sites.”  

Other manufacturers, such as Powervault, offer strong technical support but try to design product that is simple and elegant, and easy to install, getting as close to ‘plug and play’ as possible and designing their solution to look like (and be) a household appliance, fitting in with dishwashers and washing machines.

In short, all manufacturers are keen to speak to installers, those committed to the long term and prepared to work hard now, to build their profile, reference sites, expertise and experience. In return they are committed to providing technical and marketing support, and hand-holding while you find your feet, and I’m sure some price support too. Do some research, reach out to them, engage them. We know that energy storage is going to be a significant market, at all scales, including behind the meter and residential. Get informed and get involved.

Top tips

• Don’t try to sell storage like you sell solar PV. Don’t focus on ROI, but on energy independence, self-consumption, energy security. Early adopters tend to be ‘green’, savvy and like the idea of being an innovator and early adopter. Don’t forget they also tend to love technology. Know your product offering, and have apps to show off and demonstrate if you can.
• Don’t try and offer every product on the market. You are better off working with one manufacturer at this stage. A couple at most. Know the offering inside out.
• Seek help from your chosen manufacturer to prepare marketing  mailshots to your existing and previous customers. Perhaps an ‘offer’ or add-on for those that bought PV from you in the past.
• Don’t expect huge volumes of sales yet. See this as positioning and experience gathering. Of course, you want and need to sell product, and there is a big market there, even at early adopter stage, but the flood will come later.
• Be informed. Read the trade publications, attend seminars and events, join a trade association. The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has a dedicated Energy Storage and Decentralised Energy sector group. Others are active also.

David Hunt was a director for eight years in a multi-technology renewable energy installer. Currently he is Managing Partner of one of the leading global executive search firms in the clean energy sector. He is also Chair of the Decentralised Energy Forum and a policy board member of the UK Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Energy Storage Alliance.