Residential energy storage is measured through several different lenses: installed systems, battery power and energy capacity, solar pairing, program participation, modeled costs and forecast deployment. The figures below focus mainly on California and the United States, while making each period, population and measurement type explicit.
Key Residential Energy Storage Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In October 2023–April 2024, California added more than 40,000 new residential solar-plus-battery installations.
- Those California installations represented 232 MW of new battery storage capacity during October 2023–April 2024.
- In 2024, solar paired with batteries represented about 9% of installed residential net-metering capacity in California.
- California had more than 12,000 MW of residential solar capacity in net-metering systems below 1 MW in 2024.
- More than 50% of new California residential solar installations had batteries in April 2024, compared with just over 20% in October 2023.
- The 2023 California SGIP residential evaluation population contained 44,297 projects and an estimated 844 MWh of capacity.
- The 2023 SGIP residential evaluation sample contained 2,077 systems representing 43 MWh.
- In a 2021 California survey, 48% of SGIP respondents reported PV installed before storage.
- In the same survey, 45% of SGIP respondents reported simultaneous solar and storage installation.
- In 2021, 99% of non-SGIP residential storage customers had solar in the California survey population.
- NREL’s representative modeled residential system was 5 kW and 12.5 kWh in the 2024 ATB.
- NREL modeled the representative battery inverter at $183/kWh in 2022 dollars.
- California residential SGIP systems must complete at least 52 full discharges per year under the 2024 handbook.
- Through 2023, California SGIP had paid or reserved more than $1.6 billion for over 48,000 projects.
- A 2018 SDG&E model estimated 21.1% IRR for solar-plus-storage versus 15.7% for solar-only.
- A DOE-hosted historical projection forecast a 16-fold increase in U.S. residential deployment from 2018 to 2024.
Contents
- U.S. adoption and installed capacity
- Solar pairing and market growth
- Battery costs, system sizes and assumptions
- Participation, cycling and program scale
- Economics and resilience outcomes
- Forecasts and deployment benchmarks
U.S. Residential Energy Storage Adoption and Installed Capacity
California provides the clearest supplied evidence on residential adoption, but its program and net-metering measures should not be read as a complete U.S. household count. EIA figures are preliminary, while CPUC SGIP figures cover a specific incentive-program population.
| Measure | Period | Result | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| New residential solar-plus-battery installations | October 2023–April 2024 | More than 40,000 | California |
| New battery storage capacity | October 2023–April 2024 | 232 MW | California |
| Battery-paired share of residential net-metering capacity | 2024 | About 9% | California |
| Residential net-metering solar capacity below 1 MW | 2024 | More than 12,000 MW | California |
Source: California residents are increasingly pairing battery storage with solar installations, using preliminary monthly EIA data where noted.
Residential net-metering solar capacity rose 22% year over year in Q3 2023, an indicator of solar-capacity growth rather than a direct battery-adoption rate. The SGIP evaluation population, meanwhile, contained 44,297 residential projects and 844 MWh in 2023, but that estimate represents the program population rather than all California installations.
The SGIP residential evaluation sample contained 2,077 systems representing 43 MWh, or 5% of residential population capacity, so it is useful for evaluation but not a market total. The combined SGIP storage population totaled 45,857 projects and 1,727 MWh, covering residential and nonresidential projects together.
Source: 2023 SGIP Impact Evaluation.
Residential Energy Storage Data on Solar Pairing and Market Growth
The supplied California evidence shows a rapid rise in the share of new residential solar installations paired with batteries. The EIA reported that more than 50% were paired in April 2024, compared with just over 20% in October 2023; both observations were preliminary.
A 2021 SGIP survey helps explain how storage was added relative to photovoltaic systems:
- 48% of SGIP respondents reported that PV was installed before storage in 2021 in California.
- 45% reported simultaneous solar and storage installation in the same survey.
- 1.5% reported solar installed after storage.
Among non-SGIP respondents, 99% had solar, 70% reported simultaneous installation, and 1.1% reported solar installed after storage in the 2021 California survey. These are self-reported survey results, not administrative counts of all residential customers.
System size was also associated with the size of the paired solar installation in the 2021 assessment. About 60% of storage systems above 10 kW were paired with solar of at least 10 kW, while about 50%–60% of systems at or below 5 kW were paired with solar of 7.4 kW or less.
Source: The Next Frontier: Energy Storage and Batteries.
Residential Battery Storage Costs, System Sizes and Performance Assumptions
NREL’s 2024 Annual Technology Baseline uses a representative modeled U.S. residential lithium-ion system rather than a current consumer quote. The model specifies 5 kW of power, 12.5 kWh of energy and a 2.5-hour energy-to-power ratio.
| Modeled input | Value | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Battery pack | $283/kWh | 2022 dollars; 2022 pack assumption |
| Battery inverter | $183/kWh | 2024 ATB modeled allocation |
| Supply-chain costs | 6.5% | 2024 ATB model input |
| Installation labor | $34.70/hour | 2022 dollars; U.S. model |
| Engineering design | $95/system | 2022 dollars; U.S. model |
| Permitting, inspection and interconnection | $1,633/system | 2022 dollars; local costs vary |
| Customer acquisition | $3,851/installation | 2022 dollars; modeled cost |
| Overhead | $2,285/installation | 2022 dollars; modeled allocation |
| Profit margin | 17% | 2024 ATB model assumption |
Source: Residential Battery Storage | 2024 Annual Technology Baseline.
These inputs cover different cost layers and units, so they are not interchangeable with a complete installed-system price. In particular, the $283/kWh battery-pack assumption is pack-only, while permitting, acquisition, overhead and margin are separate modeled allocations.
Residential Energy Storage Participation, Cycling and Program Scale
California’s SGIP rules define participation partly through operating requirements. Under the 2024 handbook, residential SGIP systems must complete at least 52 full discharges per year; the separate new nonresidential benchmark is 104 full discharges per year and is not a residential measure.
Paired storage must claim the investment tax credit or charge at least 75% from onsite renewables under the same handbook. That is an eligibility definition, not an observed average charging share across all residential batteries.
| SGIP scale measure | Period | Result | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid or reserved funding and projects | Inception through 2023 | More than $1.6 billion; over 48,000 projects | All SGIP technologies |
| Represented capacity | Inception through 2023 | Almost 1.4 GW | All SGIP technologies |
| Paid or reserved funding, projects and capacity | 2023 | Almost $148 million; over 9,200 projects; 140 MW | All SGIP project types |
| California allocation | FY2023–24 | $280 million | SGIP appropriation |
| Original AB 209 authorization | 2022 | $900 million | Later reduced |
Source: Self-Generation Incentive Program: 2023 California Electric and Gas Utility Costs Report.
The program-wide figures include all SGIP technologies or project types where stated, so they cannot be treated as residential-only storage totals. The 2023 residential evaluation figures above are narrower and should remain separate from these program-wide funding measures.
Residential Energy Storage Outcomes and Economics
Historical modeling shows why economics vary by utility territory, incentives and assumptions. A 2018 SDG&E model estimated a 21.1% internal rate of return for solar-plus-storage, compared with 15.7% for solar-only, while an Eversource model in Massachusetts estimated 14.9% for solar-plus-storage versus 18.6% for solar-only.
| Historical modeled outcome | Result | Period and geography |
|---|---|---|
| Solar-plus-storage IRR | 21.1% | 2018 model; SDG&E |
| Solar-only IRR | 15.7% | 2018 model; SDG&E |
| Solar-plus-storage IRR | 14.9% | 2018 model; Eversource, Massachusetts |
| Solar-only IRR | 18.6% | 2018 model; Eversource, Massachusetts |
The 2018 model assumed a $217/kWh battery cost, $1,223/kW storage balance-of-system cost and $2.91/W for solar. It also used a California SGIP incentive assumption of $0.35/Wh of CAPEX and a Massachusetts SMART assumption of $0.54 per exported kWh.
These are historical modeled outcomes, not guarantees for a present-day household. They also use different state and utility assumptions, so the two IRR comparisons should not be combined into a single national return estimate.
Source: The Next Frontier: Energy Storage and Batteries.
Residential Energy Storage Forecasts and Deployment Benchmarks
Several historical projections illustrate how expectations for residential storage changed over time. A DOE-hosted chart projected a 16-fold increase in U.S. residential deployment from 2018 to 2024 and about 3,000 MWh of annual residential deployments by 2023; these were Wood Mackenzie/ESA projections, not observed outcomes in the supplied data.
Other historical benchmarks include:
- A 2017 briefing projected 1.7 GW of U.S. residential storage by 2022.
- The same briefing projected grid-tied systems would represent more than 90% of U.S. residential storage in 2019.
- A 2015 briefing reported 40.7 MW deployed in Q2 2015, described as nine times Q2 2014 and six times Q1 2015; the figure covered all storage, not residential-only storage.
- A 2017 briefing reported 24,000 sonnenBatterie systems installed worldwide, a company-reported historical figure.
- An Arizona pilot targeted 40 residential batteries rated at 7.2 kW and 19.4 kWh each during 2017–2019.
- Massachusetts set a 200 MWh storage procurement target for January 1, 2020, a statewide target rather than a residential-only target.
Source: The Next Frontier: Energy Storage and Batteries.
Forecasts, pilots and statewide targets are useful benchmarks, but they do not have the same status as observed installations or program populations. Keeping the geography, date, technology scope and measurement type attached to each figure is essential when comparing residential energy storage statistics.