British Entrepreneur Said To Plan Home Battery Test Later This Year

A British entrepreneur who has been working on a home-based battery since at least 2011 plans to test the system in 100 homes later this year

Dale Vince, founder of a leading renewable energy supplier in Britain called Ecotricity, recently declined to offer a confirmed date for the project, or technical details or pricing, but said a launch is expected in 2015.

Vince previously worked closely with Tesla Motors Inc TSLA Elon Musk, who recently unveiled plans for home-storage battery units called Powerwall, similar to those contemplated by Ecotricity.

Vince, with a reported personal worth of $160 million, has focused recently on constructing a network of recharging stations in Britain for electric vehicles, and reportedly and launched a related intellectual property lawsuit against Tesla this month.

The suit, concerning Ecotricity's network of electric vehicle charging stations in Britain, is reportedly in mediation, although details were sketchy.

Tesla reportedly planned to encourage service stations to halt business with Ecotricity and switch to Tesla chargers.

Vince has also garnered attention in his home country recently for a messy child support case with a 30-year history.