Mercedes-Benz, Vivint to power solar homes

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tesla has been dominating home energy headlines in recent months, what with the release of its solar roof panels and residential batteries, but Elon Musk's company isn't the only one getting into the home energy game. Mercedez-Benz announced on Thursday, May 18 that it is teaming with solar-energy company Vivint to develop an all-in-one solar/battery setup of its own, Engadget said.

Essentially, Mercedes is marrying its residential battery technology, which is based on the same designs that it uses for its electric and hybrid vehicles, with Vivint's existing home solar panel business. Each system will employ 2.5 kWh cells that can be daisy-chained into a 20 kWh array, depending on the customer's energy requirements. For reference, 20 kWh is enough to run most of your home's major appliances for 20 hours straight.

Mercedes' batteries are coming to California first. Starting in Q2, California residents will be able to purchase (or finance the purchase of) the cells, though the offer is currently only valid for new Vivint customers.