Ikea takes on Tesla with solar home battery promising to cut electricity bills by 70%

Alongside its offering of furnishings and meatballs, Ikea is getting into renewable energy solutions after introducing its Solar Battery Storage, which the company claims could save homeowners up to 70% on their electricity bills.

The Swedish home store is squaring up against Tesla and its Powerwall by offering a similar product that stores up energy harvested via solar panels, ready to use on-demand rather than being sent back to the National Grid.

The battery, made in collaboration with Solarcentury, costs from £3,000 and will allow those who already have solar panels installed to make the most of their planet-saving, bill-slashing investment by containing the energy generated by the sun rather than losing precious electricity back to the grid at a loss compared to its value.

It is claimed the average solar user in the UK only consumes 40% of generated solar power, but by having means to store the harvested energy homeowners can make their investment far more efficient and cost-effective.

By being able to store the energy for a later date you'll have more to use and therefore are less likely to need to buy surplus power from providers if required. If users are able to take advantage by doubling the amount of power collected the average household could save £560, or up to 70% of their electricity bill, within the first year, it is estimated.

"We're committed to helping homeowners reap the benefits of going solar and our business partnership with IKEA is a significant step forwards for the renewable energy industry. The cost of solar installations has dropped considerably in recent years and is in fact 100 times cheaper than it was 35 years ago.

"We believe IKEA and Solarcentury are bringing the most competitive package to the market yet so more people than ever before can profit financially and environmentally by producing their own energy," said Susannah Wood, Head of Residential Solar at Solarcentury.

While the 3.3kWh Solar Battery Storage system is combined with Ikea's solar panel offering it can also be retrofitted to any other solar panel setup, albeit at a higher cost of under £5,000.

Tesla's Powerwall, which costs from £5,400, gave mass solar power adopters a way to store harvested energy in its 14kWh battery back in 2015 and since then several manufacturers have followed with their own.

Customers keen on Ikea's battery can order it online, or those who want to know how much it will save them can use this calculator. When buying solar panels and adding on battery storage – costing from £6,925 in total – homeowners can pay off the capital invested in the system in roughly 12 years, at a 6% annual return. Meanwhile they will be generating free, clean energy.