UNIGRID has started shipping its Na+Casa home battery, with the first residential systems now installed in Europe. The California-based startup says it expects to begin US installations by the end of 2026, although that timetable depends on meeting North American certification requirements for sodium-ion batteries.
The product enters a home storage market still dominated by lithium-ion systems, but UNIGRID is positioning sodium-ion as a practical alternative for residential use. According to the company, Na+Casa is designed for a 25-year service life, roughly matching the expected lifespan of a rooftop solar installation, which could reduce the need for a midlife battery replacement.
UNIGRID also says the battery chemistry removes the risk of thermal propagation, the chain reaction that can allow a battery fire to spread from one cell to another. The system stores 9.25 kilowatt-hours of electricity, works with most existing hybrid inverters, and is intended for both new solar projects and retrofit installations. The company says it is pricing the battery competitively with lithium-ion products and has designed it to operate in temperatures from -40F to 140F.
On the manufacturing side, UNIGRID says it is currently producing enough cells for 200 MWh of storage annually and aims to expand to 2 GWh in 2027 through partnerships in China, South Korea and Japan. The company argues that sodium-ion’s appeal comes from the abundance and lower cost of sodium, as well as reduced reliance on critical minerals, even though the chemistry offers lower energy density than lithium-ion.
Source: electrek.co
