Japan’s Itochu Corporation is to sell an electrical storage system for offices and retail businesses priced at about half that of currently available systems.
The system uses Samsung SDI’s lithium-ion batteries that are much cheaper than Japanese batteries. Using the Samsung products will help cut cost below US$51 000, Itochu claims.
The unit slated for initial sale has a capacity of 16.8 kWh. Itochu targets sales of 200 units in fiscal 2014.
By partnering with Samsung SDI, Itochu intends to meet demand for cost-saving backup devices for less than US$3 000 per kWh of capacity, much less than the US$7 000 per kWh offered at present.
The domestic market for stationary electrical storage systems is expected to double between fiscal 2012 and 2015 to 1.26m kWh, according to Yano Research Institute.
