Battery manufacturer SimpliPhi Power has released an all-in-one plug-and-play energy storage system to be integrated with on and off-grid solar plants.
The first shipments are being sent to Hawaii, with a full launch of the product for residential and commercial installers set for the autumn.
The system includes SimpliPhi batteries, using non-toxic lithium ferrous phosphate cells, and an inverter charge controller from Schneider Electric in one box. It can be installed in and out of doors as it does not have any cooling requirements.
SimpliPhi chief executive Catherine Von Burg said: “Mitigating the impact of power outages, the increase in distributed renewable generation at times of low use, the rising costs of base and peak power and the trend to reduce or eliminate net metering programs is opening up opportunities for solar installers to offer storage as an integral part of their solutions."
She added that the one-box product simplifies the integration of storage. Installers also collaborated on forming the product due to their frustrations with the lack of adaptability and scalability of products available.
Mike Paul, president of Apex Electric, a Hawaii-based company that collaborated with SimpliPhi on the product development, said: “Here in Hawaii, we were searching for a storage solution with lower installed costs that was faster and easier to install in more places than what was available to us. For our customers, the ability to install the SimpliPhi ESS outside gives us a major competitive advantage when bidding projects.”
Von Burg added: “We worked together to combine best-in-class technologies into one plug-in box that can scale without the need of ventilation, cooling or the risk of thermal runaway characteristic of other lithium ion storage technologies.”
The storage system has three software applications that can be used for new and retrofit systems as well as options for utilities to access asset monitoring and deployment off-site for grid stabilisation.
US$2 million funding round
SimpliPhi has also closed a US$2 million bridge round of financing ahead of a Series A. The funding will be used to expand its California-based manufacturing facility, where it produces its lithium ferrous phosphate energy storage and management solutions to serve the residential, commercial, military and entertainment markets, for both on and off grid applications.
The funds will also be used to continue expanding the firm’s product line and boost production of the new plug-and-play energy storage system.
The firm has raised more than US$3.5 million since 2010.
Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual