STEG has authorized low-voltage customers to pair home battery storage with hybrid inverters as a severe heatwave pushes electricity demand to record highs. The utility also released a technical guide for design, installation, operation and maintenance to ensure safe integration. The change allows rooftop solar owners to use stored energy during planned load-shedding and is welcomed by the solar industry, which asks for financial measures to lower adoption costs.
Tunisia Approves Home Battery Storage as Heatwave Strains Power Grid
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Tunisia has moved to allow low-voltage customers to pair home battery storage with hybrid inverters as an intense heatwave pushes electricity demand to record levels and exposes limits in the national grid. The state utility, STEG, has issued a formal authorization and a technical guide to manage safe design, installation, operation and maintenance of battery-equipped solar systems.
What STEG Approved
According to ESS News, STEG cleared residential and small commercial customers to integrate batteries with hybrid inverters on low-voltage connections. The approval lets rooftop solar owners draw on stored energy during short, planned outages known as load-shedding.
Why Now
Extreme heat is driving widespread use of air conditioning, which is elevating peak demand and increasing stress on the grid. Repeated outages and appeals from STEG for consumers to reduce consumption underscored the need for practical measures that bolster resilience at the household level.
Benefits For Households And Small Businesses
Paired with rooftop solar, battery storage can keep lights, fans, refrigeration, internet and other essentials running during brief grid interruptions, reducing health and safety risks when cooling is most critical. For many households, stored energy provides immediate backup without relying on the grid during peak strain.
Technical Guidance And Grid Safety
STEG published a technical guide that outlines basic requirements for how battery-equipped solar systems with hybrid inverters should be designed, installed, operated and maintained. The guidance is aimed at residential customers, STEG technical staff and certified installers and emphasizes safe integration to protect individual properties and the shared power system.
Industry Reaction And Policy Calls
Sadok Besbes, head of the renewable energy group at the Confederation of Citizen Enterprises of Tunisia, described the approval as an important step toward wider adoption of home energy storage. He urged government support to lower the costs of panels and batteries, including reducing customs duties, so more households can afford combined rooftop solar and storage.
By issuing clear technical standards, STEG is making home energy storage a practical part of Tunisia's response to rising demand and grid strain. The move creates a safer, standardized pathway for distributed battery adoption while highlighting the need for complementary policies to improve affordability.
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