The home battery for Dutch households is a brother effort

What should a home battery look like? If you ask Maurice van der Ende, it has to be sleek, compact, and ultrasmart. These three principles guided him and his brother Roel in founding Planetpod and developing a product that promises to help Dutch families consume more green power. “Giving households the possibility to power themselves using clean energy–either the one they produce themselves or from the grid–drives me the most.”

As half of the Dutch electricity production now comes from renewable sources, solar power is behind a sixth of the 2024 generation. Rooftop solar, in particular, has been the main driver of the Dutch solar energy growth and advantaged by a favorable net metering scheme. Home batteries help fully exploit the benefits of self-producing energy, stashing electricity for later use. 

Although alternatives were available on the market, the Van der Ende brothers thought no one was really catering to the Dutch one. So, in 2023, they started Planetpod, which, from a brother effort, became an eight-employee team with a soon-to-deliver product that caught the attention of over 300 people that pre-ordered a Pod.

The go-to home battery for Dutch households

Their home battery–as big as a mini fridge–has an 8.2 kWh capacity–enough to store energy to power an average household. It also features AI-driven software–and a mobile app to control it–that charges it when electricity is cheaper. The company claims the battery can save up to €1,000 per year in energy costs. 

To further reduce costs and make the product more accessible, the battery features a lithium iron phosphate chemistry (LFP)–cheaper than lithium-ion. Furthermore, this chemistry is less prone to overheating and, thus, to fire hazards. Planetpod’s battery is set to last for 8,000 charge and discharge cycles. A module costs €5,590, and Planetpod will deliver the pre-ordered units by the summer. The company is wrapping up the testing phase and getting certifications before starting production–which will also happen in the Netherlands. 

The compact design was a key prerogative to make it suitable for Dutch households. “Many home batteries have bulky external inverters that can take up space. Not everyone has the space to install one of those. At the same time, on the software side, the battery is designed to operate within the Dutch electricity market, maximizing its benefits,” explains the entrepreneur. 

The battery and the app - © Planetpod

Roel and Maurice van der Ende - © Planetpod

From software to hardware

To fully understand the journey behind Planetpod, we need to take a step back into Maurice and his brother Roel's backstory. The Van der Ende brothers previously founded Mountox, an online platform for viewing, comparing, and booking electric car test drives. They launched it in 2018 when EVs looked promising, but adoption in the Dutch market was still low. The website still guides users in switching to an electric car, providing information on what car to buy or lease and how to choose the best charging subscriptions. 

The platform grew, attracting more and more users. “A few years in, another trend was gaining traction. The Netherlands became the country with the highest solar power capacity per capita worldwide–driven by home rooftop installations–yet no good home battery options were available. So we thought, ‘Why not make ourselves a home battery?’”

And so the journey to start Planetpod began. The network the two brothers created through Mountox proved instrumental in taking the first steps. There, they could find the first investors to fund their idea and industry stakeholders to help them approach the manufacturing of a valid product.

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A family affair 

A mechanical engineer by training, Roel focused on developing the hardware. With a design and business background, Maurice was responsible for the battery and software look. “We always thought we would create a hardware product at some point. This idea became a reality as we started working on the home battery. We shared the same vision: making it as easy to use as possible, to the point that even our grandmother can use it,” adds Maurice.

A big part of the Van der Ende brothers’ inspiration came from their father, who, since the early 2000s, owned a solar panel installation business. “He is a hardware nerd, very excited about building new stuff. Telling him that we sold 300 batteries didn’t catch his attention as much as telling him about the latest prototype we are working with,” says Maurice, chuckling. 

Long-term thinking 

According to the entrepreneur, people’s mindsets must change to adequately understand and then undertake the green transition. “People often focus on short-term problems. A good example is the recent media reports about how Dutch solar panel owners will get less money from the energy they sell after the net metering scheme ends,” he says. 

“Instead, we need to start thinking about the energy transition with a long-term vision, acknowledging that such a transition presumes a different relation with energy. It is about producing clean power, storing it, and, most importantly, using it more smartly.” Additionally, Planetpod’s CEO underscores the relevance of innovations in solving the challenges this systemic shift presents. 

For now, Maurice's focus is on delivering pre-orders. “We have much more in mind, but what matters now is giving our customers a great product.” With this early validation being key, he hopes to scale and see a Pod in every Dutch household. 

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