Empirical field evaluation of self-consumption promoting regulation of household battery energy storage systems

An increasing number of battery energy storage systems are installed in households globally. These systems are influenced by distinct regulatory frameworks. Internationally, a consolidated regulatory framework for household battery energy storage has yet to emerge. The widely proliferated self-consumption regulation promotes the utilization of battery storage systems to maximize the consumption of self-generated electricity from PV panels. Yet, a large-scale empirical field study evaluating the effect of such regulation is missing. To this end, we present an empirical evaluation of a unique dataset describing the operation of 947 household battery energy storage systems over one year, propose alternative regulatory regimes that we evaluate based on a simulation with the same battery profiles and a survey with 196 respondents evaluating household attitudes towards their battery storage. The results show that the self-consumption promoting regulation leads to almost no additional welfare for the system and even adds costs in some cases that are being socialized among energy consumers. Furthermore, minimal adjustments in the regulation might considerably increase the value of battery storage for households and the system and we find that trust in the supplier might suffice to have households adopt alternative battery storage profiles. •We provide an overview of international household battery regulation.•We analyze a year-long empirical data set of 947 household battery load profiles.•We find that self-consumption promoting regulation yields low overall welfare.•We propose and evaluate more beneficial alternative regulatory policy options.•We find that households find batteries effective when they trust the supplier.