Battery and energy storage highlights at SPI 2019

on September 26, 2019
Solar-Power-World

There are many battery-related companies exhibiting at Solar Power International/Energy Storage International this year. And with plenty of big storage announcements from companies not necessarily directly involved with batteries before, there was a lot of top tech to sort through. Here were the most interesting battery products I saw on the show floor today.

SunPower came out with its own LFP storage system for the residential market, including a simplified service panel. Company reps said they wanted to reduce the number of products for their installer network, offering a fully integrated storage system designed and warranted by one company. With a rated energy capacity of 13 kWh, Equinox Storage can also easily be expanded for larger home loads. SunPower’s new storage product is an obvious addition to its full suite of residential offerings only offered by SunPower dealers.

I promise I saw this in-person; I just did not get a good photo as the booth was packed. Panasonic took lessons learned with its partnership with Pika Energy to release its own energy storage system this year. EverVolt can be AC- or DC-coupled and installed easily by one person. It’s also super easy to add on: EverVolt can be scaled as small as 5.7 kWh or expanded up to 34.2 kWh. And with one warranty, this storage system provides a simple option for homeowners.

Although Generac has traditionally been in the not-so-green generator business, the company is shifting gears in a big way with its battery offering. Generac acquired Pika Energy last year and now has over 150 employees dedicated to breaking into the solar-plus-storage market with its PWRcell energy storage system. Consisting of an expandable battery park, inverter and advanced sensors assembled in Vietnam, PWRcell will begin shipping in December. The batteries are 8.6 kWh and the system can expand up to 17.1 kWh.

What if you could easily use portable power products as home backup? The Yeti storage system from Goal Zero is a really interesting concept for partial-home-backup. The Yeti 3000 Power Station (seen above) can provide 3 kWh of lithium storage for important loads at home or be picked up and transported for tailgating or camping energy needs. If you want more power, the Yeti Link expansion module allows you to add more batteries — of any chemistry. Yeti Link allows users to chain batteries of different chemistries, so you can add some lead-acid batteries to the original lithium-based system.

Click Here To Read More

Share this post:
Fractal Energy Storage ConsultantsBattery and energy storage highlights at SPI 2019