What maker offers electric cars, plus solar panels and energy storage, beside Tesla?What maker offers electric cars, plus solar panels and energy storage, beside Tesla?

While Tesla may be the automaker most known for marketing home-solar equipment, it’s actually not the only player on the block.
Japanese automaker Nissan previously offered home-energy storage solutions in Europe, dubbed Nissan xStorage, that utilized cells recycled from Nissan Leaf batteries.
That’s as far as Nissan has gone—until now.
DON’T MISS: Nissan home energy-storage battery: another front against Tesla?
Last week, Nissan introduced Nissan Energy Solar, a product that combines its xStorage solution with solar panels that generate electricity during the day.
Buyers can then use that energy at night or during times when electric rates are at their highest due to peak demand.
The carmaker aims to sell a six-panel system with associated energy-management systems in the United Kingdom for just under £3,900 GBP ($5,400).
Nissan Energy Solar
Using a 12-panel system, Nissan claims, “a family located in the South East [of England], at home on average half a day and with an annual electricity demand of 4,500 kilowatt-hours, could cut their electric costs by up to two-thirds.
The solar panels have a peak generation rate of 4 kilowatts, and the battery capacity is 7.5 kilowatt-hours.
Nissan did not detail if it would sell the system in other parts of Europe or North America.
READ MORE: Nissan Leaf-To-Home Electric-Car Power Tests: More Practical For U.S. With Longer-Range Cars?
It’s worth noting, however, that average households in the U.S. and Canada consume 32 kwh a day, whereas in the U.K. it is only 12.6 kwh.
Comparing the Nissan system to Tesla’s offerings is difficult without doing some hefty math.
While Nissan Energy Solar offers traditional photovoltaic solar panels, Tesla’s promised solution—part of the Solar City company it bought in November 2016—integrates those cells into “Solar Roof” tiles so homeowners can protect the look of their homes without panels some deem unsightly.
Tesla Solar Roof
The Nissan solution lets owners manage the energy mix in their home either automatically, or manually via an app.
In 2014, Nissan began testing its Leaf-to-Home system, which allowed Nissan Leaf owners in Japan to use the batteries in their cars for home-energy storage.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz recently jumped into the home-energy storage game as well last year. It offers a 2.5-kilowatt-hour home battery, developed in partnership with Vivint Solar.
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