A German home put in a 10 kWh battery with no lithium in it
A Frankfurt start-up has installed its first sodium-ion home battery for a customer near Aschaffenburg in Germany: 10 kWh, in cells the seller says contain no lithium. It is one home at pilot stage, not a trend, and the figure that matters most has not been reported. Here is what a sodium battery is, and why India might care.
What happenedWhat was installed in Germany, and what sodium-ion means
On 5 November 2026, pv magazine reported that a Frankfurt start-up has installed its first sodium-ion home battery at a customer's property near Aschaffenburg in Germany. It is five 2 kWh modules, 10 kWh in all. Each module weighs 18.7 kg, so about 94 kg together (our arithmetic), and the report says up to about 4 kW of output could be expected. The home also has about 20 kW of solar and a small hydro plant in a former mill, so this battery is one part of a bigger setup.
A sodium-ion battery does the same job as a lithium battery: it stores power and gives it back later. The difference is the metal that carries the charge. The seller says its sodium-ion cells contain no lithium, cobalt or nickel. They do not contain table salt either. Sodium is simply one of the two elements in it.
Three things to keep straight. This is one home, and although the seller calls it the start of its commercial launch, the report says the rollout is still at pilot stage. Operating data is to come later, so we have seen no real-world results. And neither report we read says why sodium was chosen, or claims that it is better or cheaper than lithium.
The list price is EUR 2,995 for 10 kWh, about Rs 3.2 lakh (our conversion), and the report does not say what that includes. It also says the seller is sold out for 2026.
India has a start too. In December 2025, an Indian company said it had launched sodium-ion storage systems in 3.5 kW, 5 kW and 10 kW sizes, pitched as a safer alternative to lead-acid batteries.
| Item | Reported |
|---|---|
| Size | 10 kWh |
| Weight | About 94 kg |
| Output | About 4 kW expected |
| List price | About Rs 3.2 lakh |
| Full charges it lasts | Not reported |
| Warranty | Not reported |
| Temperature range | Not reported |
From pv magazine, 5 November and 24 July 2026. The weight and the rupee price are our arithmetic. “Not reported” means neither report gives it; the seller may publish it elsewhere.
What our tracker showsHow big a home system is here, next to the German home
Our rooftop solar tracker reads the PM Surya Ghar portal every day. On the 6 November 2026 reading, India stood at 19,425 MW across 55,92,727 installations, which is about 3.5 kW each (our arithmetic). The German home has about 20 kW of solar, nearly six times that, so its battery sits on a much bigger setup than a typical Indian roof.
To get a feel for the size: at a rough 4 units a day from each kW, which many rooftops do not quite reach, a 3.5 kW system makes about 14 units on a sunny day. A 10 kWh battery, if all of it could be used, would hold about 7 of every 10 units made that day (our arithmetic).
The portal's public figures do not show batteries, so our tracker cannot say how many Indian rooftops have one, of any kind. The chart shows only how big systems are in a few states.
Source: Solentra's reading of the PM Surya Ghar national portal (pmsuryaghar.gov.in), 6 November 2026. Capacity divided by installations, our arithmetic. A few states only, and these are averages, so many systems are larger or smaller.
See the numbers
| Item | kW for each installation |
|---|---|
| Chandigarh | 4.72 kW |
| Punjab | 4.58 kW |
| Gujarat | 3.75 kW |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 3.58 kW |
| India | 3.47 kW |
| Himachal Pradesh | 3.41 kW |
| Haryana | 3.40 kW |
| Uttar Pradesh | 3.35 kW |
What it could mean for IndiaSupply, lead-acid, and the figure still missing
Sodium could matter for India's supply, not only for one home. The government says India depends heavily on imports of refined materials such as lithium, so a battery with no lithium could ease part of that over time. That may depend on where the cells are made, and the German report does not name the cell maker.
In Indian homes, the first comparison could be lead-acid, not lithium. The Indian launch was pitched against lead-acid, and that company says its systems are up to 60 per cent lighter than comparable lead-acid ones. These are a seller's claims, and we have not tested them.
The figure to wait for is how many full charges a sodium battery gives before it wears out, and at what price. A battery that costs less but wears out sooner may cost more over its life. Neither report gives that figure, so we cannot say yet which way this could go.
What it means for youWhat this means for a buyer, a seller and a factory
If you need a home battery now: this news changes nothing yet. Compare what is on sale here, and for any battery ask how many full charges it gives, how deep each charge goes, what the warranty covers and who services it near you.
If you sell solar or batteries: expect to be asked about salt batteries. Answer from what is known: one home in Germany, at pilot stage, with no reported figure for how many full charges it gives. Do not say sodium is better or cheaper, because neither report says so.
If you run a factory or warehouse: your battery choice rests on your bill, your peak hours and your power cuts, not on one home in Germany. Our battery calculator turns those answers into a payback, and our battery storage page, Powered by UnityESS, covers the systems.
Sources
- pv magazine (Tristan Rayner), Revolta installs first 10 kWh sodium-ion home battery in Germany, .
- pv magazine, German startup launches high-voltage sodium-ion battery for residential applications, .
- Gramwzielone, Nie tylko dla właścicieli PV. Nowy magazyn energii ma trafić także do mieszkań, .
- ETV Bharat, Cabinet Clears Rs 14,500 Crore Energy Storage Scheme: How It Will Ensure Round-The-Clock Power Supply, .
- Saur Energy (Manish Kumar), Naxion Energy Claims To Launch India's First Sodium-Ion ESS, .
- MNRE, National Portal for Rooftop Solar, PM Surya Ghar national portal, read daily by Solentra since 29 Aug 2026, .
The Solar Brief puts public reports in our own words and reads them against Solentra's own daily record of the PM Surya Ghar national portal. Where we say what something could mean, that is our reading, not a forecast. Nothing here is financial, loan or legal advice.
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