More than 1 in 5 Australian homes have rooftop solar and storing that renewable energy in a battery could help you be self sustainable and even disconnect from the grid. A new product called LAVO is now available for pre-order.
This is a battery design for home and businesses, but is significantly different than others on the market. LAVO is a hydrogen hybrid battery that stores over 40kWh of electricity. Most home storage batteries that use lithium-ion batteries, range from 4 to 14 kWh in capacity, so having an option at between 4-10x could provide enough energy to power the average Australian home multiple days.
The system integrates with a standard rooftop solar system and LAVO generates green hydrogen for renewable power when you need it. LAVO is a solar sponge, using patented hydride to store hydrogen in metal alloy to enable the world’s first, long term capture, hydrogen battery within a secure vessel.
With a slick exterior design to the unit, the concept of installing an 4x pressurised vessels (35 bar) is a new concept for people to get their heads around. The mounting details list that this should be installed on the ground, outdoors, while some batteries can be installed in the garage.
An important metric with battery storage and the power it can provide to your home, is the amount of continuoius power. In this instance, the LAVO offers 5kW, which means you will likely need to be selective about what you’d like to run in larger homes. By comparison, one of the most popular battery storage solutions, Tesla’s Powerwall 2, features a 13.5 kWh capacity and 7kW peak / 5kW continuous output.
The system is rated for operation between -10 degrees and +50 degrees C for 20,000 cycles and warrantied for 10 years. The total installed weight is a massive 324 kg.
Now for the big question, cost.
While most home battery storage systems cost between $5-12,000 installed, it seems Hydrogen will cost far more. The admittedly larger storage capacity comes at a steep cost. When you pre-order the LAVO, you’ll see there are 3 options to chose from:
- LAVO 2021 Launch Edition (L.21) – Available from: JUN 2021 – Limited to: 2,500 | Price: $34,750 | Deposit: $250
- LAVO 2022 Edition (L.22) – Available from September 2022 – Limited to 5,000 | Price $29,450 | Deposit $100
- LAVO 2023 Edition (L.23) – Available from September 2023 – Limited to 10,000 | Price $29,450 | Deposit $50
For a price comparison, Tesla’s Powerwall 2 costs $13,300 + installation and should you need more capacity, you can add multiple Powerwalls (up to 10) to service that need. If you were to add 3 Powerwalls to reach a comparable capacity to the LAVO, you’d pay A$36,500.
More information at LAVO
