Saft, the world’s designer and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industry, has entered high volume series production of the state-of-the-art lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries that form the heart of Bosch’s BPT-S 5 Hybrid intelligent energy management and storage solution aimed at Germany’s fast-growing residential PV (photovoltaic) electricity self-use/self-consumption sector.

The technologically mature, fully commercialized Bosch BPT-S 5 Hybrid system, launched in 2012, is now being delivered in volume at the ideal time to enable domestic PV producers to benefit from the market incentive programme introduced by the (BMU) in May 2013. With subsidies worth a total of €25 million until the end of the year for eligible, certified decentralised battery storage systems supporting an on-grid PV system, the market potential is estimated at between 8 to 10,000 systems. A key commercial advantage of the Bosch BPT-S 5 Hybrid system is that it is fully certified and safety tested, including the Li-ion batteries, and Bosch already has over 350 installers fully trained and ready to deploy the units across Germany.

In a world-first, the BPT-S 5 Hybrid system integrates a solar inverter, an energy management system and Saft’s advanced Li-ion batteries. The system effectively time-shifts the availability of solar power from the periods of peak production to make it available exactly when it is needed. This enables a typical four-person household to achieve self-consumption rates of 80 percent or more. Furthermore, thanks to the combination of intelligent energy management and efficient, maintenance-free energy storage provided by the Saft batteries, no intervention is needed by the householder – all they notice is the reduced energy bills.