Batteries ...for the Home?

Necessities for an emergency kit? How about a radio, flashlight, bottles of water and a backup lithium-ion rechargeable battery from Panasonic that can power your home for a week?

We've seen the idea of super-powered lithium-ion batteries get notoriety when we're talking about sustainable cars, but how about sustainable homes?

As soon as Panasonic bought a 50 percent stake in Sanyo, they announced plans to develop electricity storage cells for home use. They've predicted that their product could store sufficient electricity to power your home for one week.

It would go a long way towards making green homes with less carbon emissions (imagine a solar-powered home by day, battery-powered home by night), but we think this could be revolutionary in emergency situations. We'll just wait with baited breath to see if these home batteries ever make it to market—and if they're affordable.

Via DesignBoom

Comments (3)

The expression is "bated breath," which is a contraction of "abated breath."

I mean, who doesn't like the idea, but this post tells me absolutely nothing about the product.

What kind of appliances can I run for a "week?"

Obviously I'm not expecting to run my Xbox, my computer, or my bedroom TV, but how many hours can I at least watch my living room TV. Or, actually, since cable might also be out, maybe I do want the Xbox to work so I can at least watch DVDs.

@ErikTheRed

-Good points. I really don't see this as very practical. Car batteries have been plentiful and cheap for years, but most folks up north who deal with blackouts still keep a generator. I don't really see this catching on, unless-you have a solar cell or an aquarium. If you could recharge using a solar cell during a blackout, this might be worth it. Or if you have an expensive aquarium, then it might be worth it as well. I crashed a tank once after a 4 day blackout and lost all my fish. I was very upset. My UPS died 2 days into it. *sigh*