Daimler Partners on U.S. Home Electric Power Storage System

Daimler AG and Utah-based solar panel maker Vivint Solar Development LLC. are collaborating to market battery-based home power storage systems in the U.S.

The partnership will compete directly with Tesla Inc.’s year-old Powerwall battery backup device. Daimler introduced its own battery system for homes at the same time as Mercedes-Benz Energy Storage, but that product has been available only in Europe until now.

Daimler says it is expanding its market for the storage system because of an expected rise in sales of electric vehicles. FT notes the company has said it will offer at least 10 electric models by 2022, three years sooner than originally planned.

Like Powerwall, the Daimler system can be used to charge an EV or store power from an EV and use it to help provide a home’s electrical needs. Vivint says it wanted a partner to provide a storage system alongside its home solar panel products, just as Tesla does through its SolarCity unit.

Daimler’s modular system consist of 70-lb, 2.5 kilowatt-hour units that can be combined to provide as much as 20 kWh of storage. The top-end system is expected to retail for $13,000, including installation.