The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is working on an Australian performance standard for residential and small-commercial battery systems connected to solar PV systems.

ARENA has today announced $1.4 million in funding to develop the $3.12 million project led by project partner DNV GL, to better inform customers when they decide to purchase a battery for a home or business.

The project will analyse Australian and international battery performance testing and consult with stakeholders in order to come up with an Australian Battery Performance Standard. This will initiate the formal standard development process with Standards Australia.

The project has also received $500,000 in funding from the Victorian Government and additional help from Deakin University, CSIRO and the Smart Energy Council.

The battery standard is intended to cover battery systems ranging from residential to small commercial systems, with an estimated maximum size estimates of 100kW peak power and 200 kWh stored energy, connected to a solar PV system.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said a performance standard for home batteries will help Australian consumers decide what is best for them.

“The difficulty for consumers to make a well-informed choice presents a barrier to uptake of battery storage,” he said.

“This project will give consumers a more informed choice and increased confidence in deciding to invest in home batteries and rooftop solar. This project will give people easy to access information on how reliable the batteries are and how well they perform over their lifetime in Australian conditions,” Mr Frischknecht said.

“Energy storage is a vital component in the transition to a greener energy future, and through efforts of providing the industry with performance standards, we are supporting the safe and sustainable development of the energy storage sector. We look forward to building on these efforts to create a vibrant and lasting energy storage market for Australia,” said Lucy Craig, Vice-President Technology & Innovation for Energy at DNV GL.