This article analyses in technical terms the application of battery-based storage systems for household-demand smoothening in electricity-distribution grids. The analysis includes case studies of Denmark, Portugal, Greece, France and Italy. A high penetration of photovoltaic systems in distribution grids is considered as an additional scenario. A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to examine the smoothening effect of daily demand profiles for different configurations of the battery system. In general, battery-storage systems with low rated power and low battery capacity can smooth the demand sufficiently with the aid of a simple management process. For example, with 1 kW of peak demand, a 30-45% decrease in the variability of the daily demand profile can be achieved with a battery system of 0.1 kW rated power and up to 0.6 kW h battery capacity. However, further smoothening requires higher battery-system capacity and power. In this case, more elaborate management is also needed to use the battery system efficiently. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.