Alberta, Canada-headquartered energy storage system maker Eguana Tech appears to have found a route to market in Europe, signing an exclusive distribution deal with Hanwha Q CELLS.
Eguana’s own-branded AC-coupled home energy storage unit, Enduro, will be made available through the sales networks of Hanwha Q CELLS, currently among the leading PV module suppliers into Europe, focused mainly on its rooftop solar business.
The two have entered an exclusive agreement for Hanwha Q CELLS to market, sell and distribute Enduro into the European Union countries, Switzerland and in Norway under the Q CELLS brand. Q CELLS has its own opt-in installer programme, Q.Partner, where solar installers can leverage the brand and benefit from its networks, training and sales channels.
“Q CELLS searched the market for an AC-coupled solution that could be incorporated into our Q.HOME package. We believe that the Eguana Enduro is the product that best exemplifies our commitment to best-in-class products, quality, and reliability for our consumers and Q. PARTNERS.
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“Our 2018 residential installations across Europe surpassed 15,000 customers. The addition of the Eguana Enduro to our Q.HOME package will allow us to continue this growth trajectory and maintain our leadership position,” Q CELLS head of business development and system solutions Vincent Lim said.
The initial order is for 500 units, with an exclusivity period extending into a second year, with at least 1,500 units more to be ordered in that year. From there, Q CELLS will be contracted to maintain those systems and to extend the contract into a third year.
The home storage market, particularly in Europe, is attracting attention this year from the solar and renewables industries and major corporations alike. Germany’s market leader Sonnen is being acquired by oil major Shell, while Siemens released its own home energy storage system, ‘Junelight’ this month.
According to Sonnen CEO Christoph Ostermann, the home storage market in the predominantly German-speaking regions of Western Europe, encompassing Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is currently strong, particularly as falling or expiring feed-in tariff (FiT) policies are giving homeowners with rooftop PV systems an incentive to store and consume their own power rather than selling it to the grid.
Over in North America, Eguana Tech recently sold its AC-coupled lithium-ion battery energy storage systems to a “bulk buy” community project in Georgia, the US. Campaigns in which local residents signed up together to purchase solar installations for their communities, resulted in “more than 20 residential energy storage systems” being deployed in Greater Atlanta and Carrol County.
Eguana Tech’s battery systems were also ruled eligible for South Australia’s Home Battery Scheme, where homeowners can receive subsidies for the installation of energy storage equipment. The scheme offers a maximum of AU$6,000 assistance per household for the purchase of battery energy storage. Home storage systems are typically, but not always, paired with solar PV, and homeowners can get back between AU$500 and AU$600 per kilowatt hour of battery storage capacity purchased. Eguana joined the likes of Sonnen and Tesla in targeting that opportunity, setting up local assembly facilities to meet local content requirements of the programme.
