Swisscom Energy Solutions has developed an attractive offer under the name “tiko storage”, based on domestic battery storage that allows households to rely more on their self-produced energy using photovoltaic systems while helping compensate fluctuations in the Swiss electrical network. A solution good for individual consumers and good for Switzerland.
Switzerland is working towards reducing CO2 emissions for the benefit of future generations. To this end, it is increasing the focus on supplying power from renewable energies. However, two fundamental challenges need to be overcome. On one hand, wind and sunshine are not available at all times and therefore cause fluctuations in the power supply. On the other hand, a suitable storage solution for the mass market still does not exist. For a sustainable, low-CO2 energy future, the energy issued from renewable sources should be stored as close as possible to both the production and consumption sites. Batteries installed by residential customers play a crucial role here.
The necessary technology to build efficient batteries is now available. But this alone is not enough. Swisscom Energy Solutions AG has developed the intelligence required to optimally integrate batteries into households according to their own consumption patterns.
For its new “tiko storage” offer, Swisscom Energy Solutions AG partnered with the battery manufacturer sonnen GmbH. The battery, developed in Germany, guarantees a minimum of 10,000 cycles, enough to cover the needs of an average household for more than 20 years. It is the longest-lasting and most environmentally friendly battery on the market today.
Through its intelligent integration into homes – for example, connected with electrical appliances such as water boilers – customers can increase their level of self-consumption up to 70%. The systems also contributes to the network stability in two different ways. Firstly, it reduces the amount of power drawn and fed back into the grid, putting less of a strain on local networks. Secondly, the battery helps compensate fluctuations at a national level by participating in tiko’s smart storage network.
The Swisscom Energy Solutions offer is available from CHF 5,500 including a battery and the appropriate tiko devices. For limited budgets, an instalment plan is available: from CHF 39 per month, a battery and the required tiko devices can be added to an existing photovoltaic. By participating in the tiko storage network, every battery owner can receive up to CHF 250 per year, independently of the chosen financing option, and thus, depending on the energy provider, cover up to 100% of his residual energy costs. “With tiko storage we have created an offer that will make it easier for more households to invest in battery storage,” says Frédéric Gastaldo, CEO of Swisscom Energy Solutions, who is delighted about the offer’s launch. “Households thus benefit from a financial reward, and the Swiss community from a sustainable energy supply.”
Swisscom brings innovative technologies to the Swiss market. This includes tiko storage, which allows more households to actively shape the energy future. The new offer supports Swisscom’s sustainable climate strategy. This strategy aims at working together with customers to save by 2020 twice as much CO2 as Swisscom emits through its operations and supply chain and to increase Swisscom’s own energy efficiency by a further 35% by 2020 compared with the levels at 1 January 2016. Swisscom is one of Switzerland’s ten largest consumers of electricity and is continuously increasing its energy efficiency. The company acquires 100% of its energy from domestic renewable sources and is among the biggest consumers of electricity issued from wind and solar sources in Switzerland.
Swisscom Energy Solutions AG was founded in September 2012 and develops solutions for the Swiss and international energy sector under the tiko brand. To date, it has already connected more than 10,000 devices in Switzerland, mainly electrical heating systems such as heat pumps, to the tiko network in order to counterbalance fluctuations in the electrical network. tiko customers are also given the opportunity to save energy and make their installations more efficient.