What kinds of battery storage systems are available?

Currently, 4 main types of battery storage systems are available for residential homes.

Lead-acid: One of the oldest battery technologies, lead-acid batteries require maintenance and have a shorter life span than other battery technologies.

Lithium-based: Lithium type batteries are the most talked about and most prevalent battery chemistry. They use up less space than lead-acid and don’t require a lot of maintenance. However, they do cost more than lead-acid.

Nickel-based: These battery types last longer than lithium-based systems but sometimes use more toxic chemistries and are a bit larger overall.

Flow: This battery storage system uses a liquid electrolyte rather than a solid like the others. While this battery type is a safer way than the others to store power, and can do so very efficiently, they take up large amounts of space. Typically, these battery storage systems are used for larger utility-scale use due to their size requirements.