Your personal energy hub with a charging station—out of sight. That’s the vision behind Sett, the concept recently launched by Mithra. There are some concerns, but the pilot projects are still to come.
“Finally, we can shout it from the rooftops,” says Ken van der Horst of Mithra on LinkedIn. Apparently, the concept has been in development for a long time and with great intensity. It involves an underground battery system—for individuals, businesses, and government agencies alike—with 96 kWh of battery storage. It features seamless integration of solar panels, smart buying and selling of electricity, and two 11-kW charging stations or one 22-kW charging station.
Control over your own electricity
The batteries and the integration of the solar panels are at the heart of what Mithra does. What’s new is that all of this is hidden underground, so it no longer takes up any space and isn’t visible. Moreover, the temperature underground is more stable, which is good for the batteries. Although you do need to keep a close eye on humidity levels there as well. For homeowners, Mithra promises full control over their own electricity; for businesses, it offers increased capacity and the ability to scale up without costly upgrades to their electrical connections; and for local governments, it presents a perfect neighborhood-level solution to relieve the strain on the grid.
Payback period?
As if that weren’t enough, the payback period is estimated at 5.7 years—without any subsidies! Without more information to back that up, this seems a bit ambitious, to say the least. After all, a substantial hole has to be dug, and a large, expensive unit has to be installed in it. I’m assuming it’s manufactured entirely in a factory, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Exactly what the business case looks like isn’t clear, not even on Sett’s website. For private individuals in particular, it seems like a hopeless proposition. But in any case, no one has to decide on a purchase just yet. Mithra is currently primarily looking for locations where they can run pilot projects. And judging by the reactions on LinkedIn, they should have no trouble finding them.
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