Battery Balance of System Charrette Post-Charrette Report

The Battery Balance of System Charrette report identifies critical barriers to the scaling of behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage in the U.S., specifically focusing on high non-cell costs, lack of standardization, and limited monetization opportunities. The document outlines a framework for reducing 'balance of system' (BBoS) costs through hardware standardization, streamlined interconnection and permitting, and the creation of new distribution-level markets for aggregated storage services.

• Non-cell costs, known as the Balance of System (BBoS), now represent the primary challenge for cost reduction, accounting for 63% of installed costs for commercial systems and 74% for residential systems.
• The BTM energy storage industry suffers from a lack of standardized communication protocols and certification processes, which leads to misaligned resources and higher non-recurring engineering costs.
• Interconnection and permitting processes are significant barriers, with costs sometimes exceeding $3,000 and delays in 'permission to operate' lasting over a year.
• A primary market barrier is the inability to monetize the diverse services distributed energy storage can provide, with most use cases only viable in small-scale pilots or specific regions like California, New York, and PJM territory.
• The report proposes several high-priority strategies for cost and process reduction, including the use of SGIP inspection data to speed up 'permission to operate' and the development of 'battery-ready' building codes.

APA

RMI (n.d.). Battery Balance of System Charrette Post-Charrette Report. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2015-01_RMIBatterBoS-Charrette-Report-20150204-Final.pdf

Chicago

RMI. Battery Balance of System Charrette Post-Charrette Report. n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2015-01_RMIBatterBoS-Charrette-Report-20150204-Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Battery Balance of System Charrette Post-Charrette Report |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2015-01_RMIBatterBoS-Charrette-Report-20150204-Final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmindbattery, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Battery Balance of System Charrette Post-Charrette Report}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2015-01_RMIBatterBoS-Charrette-Report-20150204-Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }