Utilization of renewable energy supply is limited by fluctuations and lack of alignment with demand. Including storage technology in the grid can increase self-consumption of renewable energy in local applications as well as reduce peaks in supply and demand for local low voltage grids with a high share of renewable energy input. The project NETfficient, funded by the European Union under the Grant Agreement 646463, explores requirements and effects of storage solutions in a grid on different levels. On the island of Borkum in the North Sea, a variety of grid-connected use cases is installed and tested in pilot studies. This paper focusses on homes equipped with photovoltaic panels for harvesting energy and two different storage solutions. The research addresses the resource demand and emissions due to novel components and the potential to decrease resource demand during the use phase, applying a life cycle perspective for components and systems. Data from the project as well as from LCA databases are collected and used to calculate environmental impacts for three different systems or applications: Stand alone photovoltaic (PV) panels, PV panels and customized Li- Ion-batteries and PV panels with a disused Li-Ion battery from an electric vehicle. The results indicate that the customized or dedicated Li-Ion battery in combination with PV panels have a larger climate impact avoidance than the other systems.