Duracell has launched a new commercial product named ‘Power Center’, which is an energy storage system aiming to cover residential powering needs.
With this move, the American manufacturer of alkaline batteries is entering a steadily growing market, hoping to capture a piece from the dominant Tesla and establish itself as an important player.
‘Power Center’ is a modular battery system so its capacity can scale from 14 kWh to up to 84 kWh. An average American home needs about 30kWh/day, but that depends on consumption, space, family member count, etc. All in all, any usage scenario should be covered.
The cells are made of lithium iron phosphate and have a roundtrip efficiency of over 85.7%. ‘Power Center’ also comes with a 5kW or 10kW inverter for use with solar panels, and can support voltage ranges from 44.5 V to 53.5 V. The maximum charge and discharge current is 74 Amperes.
Longevity is always a question when it comes to batteries, and Duracell promises a performance drop of around 30% after 6,000 cycles.
Based on that, if the stored energy is depleted every day and the cells are fully recharged on that basis, the system should remain in a good operational state for about 15 years. Duracell though gives a 10-year warranty on the batteries and 15 years on the power control systems.
If you’re wondering what good is this system for, here are some reasons to consider adding a battery like the Power Center to your house:
- Energy freedom to power your home even without a connection to the grid.
- Keep going even during lengthy and unexpected outages.
- Use the power generated by solar panels directly on your home instead of sending it to the grid.
- Better monitor and control your energy consumption and implement smart energy-saving adjustments.
- Send excess energy to the grid or support it during demand spikes, and enjoy reductions on your bill.
