The viability of electrical energy storage for low-energy households

•We simulate the operation of battery storage using data from low-energy households.•We calculate the impact on the annual amount and cost of imported electricity.•We calculate the payback period of various battery storage configurations.•We estimate the ideal amount of storage for households with existing PV systems. Electrical energy storage can be used to store excess power generated by domestic rooftop PV systems, rather than exporting it to the grid and then buying back energy at a higher price. We have used one-minute PV generation and electrical load data from thirty-eight low-energy homes to simulate the operation of energy storage, and to calculate the impact on the amount and cost of imported electricity. The payback period for energy storage systems depends on factors including the cost of energy storage, the cost of electricity, the price paid for exported energy, the power generated by the PV system, and how and when energy is used by the household. We calculate the payback period for various configurations. Decreasing feed-in tariffs and the decreasing cost of energy storage will lead to an uptake of energy storage system over the next few years. While storage can be used to reduce household electricity cost, it does not lead directly to reductions in CO2 emissions. However, household energy storage will enable greater use of rooftop PV, and ultimately can be used to match household demand to variable supply from local and centralised renewable energy sources.