Shared power, shared future: Navigating technology, ownership, and equity in community battery storage

Abstract

Community Battery Storage Systems (CBS) are gaining traction as a shared energy solution to support the growing integration of rooftop solar and electric vehicles. Operating at the neighborhood scale, CBS offers benefits such as grid flexibility, enhanced self-consumption, and cost optimization. This review provides a multidimensional synthesis of CBS developments, examining technical design, ownership structures, regulatory conditions, and community engagement. By analyzing pilot projects and demonstration trials, the paper identifies recurring challenges – including inconsistent tariff structures, limited financial viability, and unclear market roles – that constrain scalability. It also highlights emerging strategies such as Local Use of Service (LUoS) tariffs and cooperative ownership models aimed at improving economic feasibility and social acceptance. The review frames CBS not only as an infrastructure solution but as a socially embedded innovation shaped by policy, trust, and equitable access. Advancing CBS deployment will require clearer regulatory definitions, data-driven assessment of business models, and increased stakeholder collaboration to realize its role in decentralized energy transitions