The energy storage business of German auto manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is expanding to the US market starting early 2017.

Germany headquartered “intelligent battery storage” and energy services provider Sonnen has just obtained US$85 million in its fourth financing round, from a range of investors. The company said the funds would be used both home and abroad, with Sonnen operating in markets including Italy, Australia, the US and the UK. Andy Colthorpe spoke with the company’s CEO Christoph Ostermann to learn more.

Tax breaks and greater efforts by industry to engage consumers should be used to grow the storage market in place of government subsidy, according to sonnen’s UK director.

Ending double charging, a clear definition for energy storage and hasty action were the three main recommendations for UK policy put forward at the last meeting of the Energy Storage100 Alliance today.

Enersave, a digital marketplace for household energy products, has started accepting reservations for residential battery storage systems from sonnen in the Eastern US.

The US must open up access to its grid and allow anyone who generates electricity to sell it on, according to an executive from energy storage company sonnen.

German energy storage hardware and services provider sonnen has launched a new product for the commercial energy storage market using power conversion systems from Ideal Power.

German energy storage hardware and services provider Sonnen has released a new residential solar battery system including self-learning software and grid-tied functions achieving costs of US$1700/kWh, according to an industry analyst

President Obama has announced a raft of activity focussing on the development, investment and regulatory framework for energy storage.

GE’s investment in Sonnen shows a shared belief in online trading of energy and other digitally-enabled services as the fastest potential drivers of a profitable energy storage industry, according to a Sonnen director.