would solar + a house battery not help with grid congestion? Seems like it would mean less power transmitted overall.
I'm not the commentor but, in my area storage batteries for solar are not permitted in or near homes. They can be in a shed or away from the home. That doesnt help apartments or attached style homes.
They do. And you can guess the influx of battery installation companies that are now pushing their services. It's basically went from solar to batteries.
But they are quite big, so you need good place to put them. That doesn't work too well for people in apartment buildings or a lot of terraced houses.