Berlin-based Home Power Solutions (HPS), a leading provider of sustainable energy storage for single- and two-family homes, has announced the broad market availability of the world’s first green hydrogen-based home storage system, Picea®. This milestone was achieved through a joint project with EIT InnoEnergy, one of Europe’s largest investors in sustainable energy innovation. As part of the innovation project, EIT InnoEnergy has provided HPS with around 3 million euros.

Picea® consists of a battery, an electrolyzer, a hydrogen fuel cell and a hydrogen storage system. It thus combines some of the most promising storage technologies currently available, achieving a level of self-sufficiency unmatched by any other end-user home storage system available in the world today: a 100% off-grid, clean and CO2-free energy supply throughout the year. By using waste heat, Picea® also allows cost savings in heating of up to 50%.

Compared to other commercially available home storage solutions, Picea® dramatically increases the benefits of a home photovoltaic system thanks to its approximately one hundred times higher storage capacity (up to 1,500 kWh) at just 30% of the specific cost. While all the technologies included in Picea® are also highly innovative in their own right – many of them are HPS proprietary developments – the additional breakthrough is the seamless integration of the individual components into one system. Known problems associated with the use of rooftop solar, such as fluctuating power generation, are now a thing of the past.

The joint innovation project with EIT InnoEnergy has removed all hurdles to the now announced broad market launch of Picea®. In addition to the financial support, this was achieved, among other things, through successful implementations at pilot customers, the further development of the HPS technology protected by patents, the establishment of a pilot production line at the Berlin headquarters of HPS and the cooperation with contract manufacturers and sales partners. In this way, the project partners involved have created the basis for the planned Europe-wide expansion of HPS.

“We are very excited about the giant leap forward we have made since we started working with EIT InnoEnergy in 2019”

says Zeyad Abul-Ella, managing director of HPS.

“Together, we managed to turn a mature prototype into a product suitable for the mass market – and much faster than planned. One of the biggest challenges of photovoltaics has always been its reliability. Our system not only provides PV systems with a short-term energy storage device in the form of a battery; the integrated generation of green hydrogen and its use in the built-in fuel cell eliminates all the previous disadvantages of photovoltaics. Thanks to this groundbreaking technology and the market access that EIT InnoEnergy provides us with its network, we will be able to expand outside our home market of Germany in the near future.”

And the timing couldn’t be better. While the future of the European energy industry is more uncertain than ever, Picea® potentially offers millions of households the opportunity to take control of their energy supply. In Germany alone, 36% of the population lives in single- or two-family homes – with the help of Picea®, these households can take a big step towards energy independence while contributing to the sustainability and security of supply of the entire European market. In Germany and some other European markets, HPS estimates that there is a potential of up to 1.5 million storage systems in the homeowner segment. This corresponds to a market volume of around 37 billion euros.

“One of the most pressing questions surrounding the Corona pandemic and the global economic crisis it has caused is: How can we ensure that we emerge from it more sustainable and robust? Especially because Europe is setting the pace in sustainability with the Green Deal, investing in the energy efficiency of our buildings should be a top priority. Because there is enormous potential to be leveraged there.”

says Christian Müller, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy Germany.

“”Working with HPS is so exciting precisely because the added value of the Picea® system is so tangible. The combination of battery, fuel cell and hydrogen storage is unique in the consumer segment. It offers tremendous benefits to homeowners, reduces CO2 emissions, and has huge potential in other areas of the building sector.”

Currently, Picea® is available for single-family homeowners in Germany. Sales partners such as the German energy service provider GASAG are working on making Picea® available to their customers soon. Marketing will initially focus on Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Europe-wide market launch is planned for the near future, with the global launch to follow thereafter. The production of up to several thousand devices per year is handled by the contract manufacturer Zollner Elektronik AG.

Since its inception in 2010, EIT InnoEnergy has supported over 330 startups and the launch of nearly 500 products.

EIT InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy in Europe. We support and invest in innovation at all stages of the innovation process – from the classroom to the end customer. Through our Europe-wide network of partners, we bring together innovators and industry, graduates and employers, researchers and entrepreneurs, and companies and markets.

EIT InnoEnergy was founded in 2010 and is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

HPS develops and produces integrated systems for the storage and use of solar energy for detached and semi-detached houses. HPS stands for security, independence and sustainability in decentralized power supply. The first HPS system Picea® is energy storage, heating support and residential ventilation in one compact product. Based on its own powerful energy management system, Picea® fully covers the electrical energy needs of a single-family home. In addition, the waste heat generated is provided to the house as heating energy, thus reducing heating costs. Compared to commercially available batteries, Picea® offers a hundred times more storage capacity with twice as much power. Picea® is energy efficient and provides energy in all seasons. This makes Picea® the first real option for complete grid independence. The energy produced by a photovoltaic system on sunny days can either be used immediately or converted into hydrogen and stored. This energy can then be retrieved during the winter season, when the sun is scarce. The Picea® fuel cell converts the energy stored in hydrogen back into electrical energy and heat when needed. HPS is based in Berlin. For more information, please visit: www.homepowersolutions.de