Interview - Elite Home & Solar

Solar Energy

CEO Interview – Michael Hierholzer of Rolls-Royce: „Our customers seek solutions for next 20, 30 or 40 years“

October 4, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Big batteries, real big batteries: How is this market developing?

Michael Hierholzer: The market is developing great, I must say. We really see a strong growth trajectory, double-digit growth for the next years to come with even energy storage capacity reaching 350 gigawatt-hours in terms annual installed capacity in 2030. So quite promising.

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And what are the technological trends? Where does the journey goes to?

For this decade, I would say we really see lithium-ion storage as dominating storage technology for these areas. We see a clear shift, though, from NMC technology or chemistry towards LFP technology.

What’s the reason for that?

Predominantly pricing factors. So LFP is slightly cheaper than NMC, but then also further advancements now with LFP technology and an added safety feature.

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What storage systems does Rolls-Royce offer in this business?

We really offer a wide variety. As you see, we brought it all today. We have started with the smallest models because they’re too big to get into the hole. This, realistically, is a 10-ft container. Reaching up to 625 kilowatt-hours in capacity it is small, really compact, and can be relocated.

Do you offer larger systems, too?

On the other side we have our slightly larger unit, the Energy Pack QL, a 40-ft shipping container, walk-in possibility, really for harsh environments so that the technicians can go inside. A really large scale utility solution is our MTU Energy Pack QG, which we can really scale up to the gigawatt-hours.

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Is it a larger commercial and utility system?

It’s both. You can expand That’s the advantage that we bring as a company. We have for industrial customers, smaller or mid-size products, and then, of course, for the utilities, a large scale product or solution, That scales up to whatever the customer requires.

In which segments of the market the demand is highest? Is it grid connected, utility scale or more commercial applications?

It is both, and that’s why we play in both. On the industrial side, we really see a lot of customers seeking energy independence, trying to lower their cost of electricity, lower emissions. On the utility scale the utilities continue to integrate renewables for which you need the battery. The battery is needed to balance that, as well as to offer grid services, for instance frequency regulation, frequency response, and such.

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That’s all included in one system, correct? So one system fits all and it’s expandable according to the wishes of your customers?

Correct. It’s really a turnkey, customizable solution. We talk with the utility, what are the requirements technologically, but also on-site, what needs to be integrated, what capacity do I need, and then we really do everything from end-to-end.

What are the main markets for you at the moment?

Main markets at the moment is the EMEA region, that means Europe, Middle East, Africa. We also have some exposure towards Asia. At the moment, we’re not too focused on China due to price competition.

They make that business themselves, right? It is a closed shop.

We also lay strong focus for the next month on the US market. It is the largest microgrid and also battery energy storage market globally.

Rolls-Royce is a famous brand. Everybody expects high value and reliability. What do you offer, especially for your customers, which is unique Rolls-Royce?

Our strength is really that we are one-stop shop to our customers, a solution provider. We are there for the customer right from the get-go, doing the consulting, doing the simulation of a project, and then really delivering that turnkey to the customer. Then after that is done, we’re not leaving the customer alone, but we are there with a holistic service approach and concept for many years to come. It’s 20, 30 or 40 years. That’s our ambition.

Interview by Heiko Schwarzburger

To get more information about MTU storage solutions of Rolls-Royce, please refer to the website.

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Solar Energy

CEO interview – Allen Cao of SOFAR: “Make sure our customers have peace of mind”

October 2, 2024 ryansheehanrts

SOFAR is a very successful company in PV and storage solutions. What are the reasons for your success?

Allen Cao: I think there are several main factors for it. The first one is, SOFAR is a customer-orientated company. We put a lot of investment on the R&D side. We have a close relationship with our customer and know their real demand. We can design the product and solution to meet the customer’s requirements. The second thing is the innovation. We always invent a lot of new technologies according to the customer demand.

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Does this mean that your products are driven by leading technology?

Yea, indeed. On the product side we have the full portfolio regarding the inverters and storage in all the segments, including the residential, C&I and utility size. And the most important thing is SOFAR provide good service. We have built up our local service team to provide timely and effective service response to our customers.

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What major trends do you see in the photovoltaic market?

PV and also storage installations are getting more and more. Solar energy becomes the dominant power source in some countries in Europe. And meanwhile, we also see that some countries have applied a dynamic tariff. So with this background, we think it is very important to make the system more intelligent and more open.

How do you prioritize your resources?

Regarding those trends which we’re talking about, SOFAR has put a lot of research and innovation. For example, we launched our SOFAR cloud. It is not only the monitoring system, which can apply all of our solutions and products. It is also including some intelligent hardware, which allows our customer to use the system in a smarter way.

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Be so kind and explain this furthermore, please.

For example, you can use the system to decide how to do the arbitrage. You can also decide when to charge and discharge the batteries. Your system can allow to participate the VPP solutions, and also if our customer uses for the self-consumption scenario, the buildings, EMS systems can allow our customer to achieve it.

What role does energy storage play at your company?

It is a very important part. In the past years, we have shipped more than 2.8 gigawatt hours tall over the world,. This is equal to more than 300,000 PCS battery modules. Now it’s playing a more and more important role for us. We have been successful in residential storage solutions, and now we are developing C&I storage. For backup we have the Power Magic solutions, which offer 125 kilowatts with 255 kilowatt-hours. Whole solutions with built-in EMS, PCS and BMS. Meanwhile, we also have the utility scale storage, which is starting from 3.44 megawatt-hour solutions. Now we can see for the storage solutions, we also covered residential C&I and utility segments.

So you meet the full range of power storage. What are your goals for the next, say, 12 months in Germany, in Europe?

We believe now to make the solution close to the customer’s demand. We have to understand the market. That’s why we keep investing in local team. For example, specifically in the dark region, we already have our local marketing team, our local operation team, and we have our local technical support team. Next year we’ll keep enhance our team, specifically on the technical support and service team. Then we can make sure our customers have peace of mind, not only to buy the products, but also during the lifetime of the solution. Service and innovation, these are your main focuses.

Interview by Manfred Gorgus

For more insights in SOFAR’s products and solutions, look here.

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Solar Energy

CEO Interview – Kathrin Rust of Hoymiles: „Energy management is like conducting an orchestra“

September 27, 2024 ryansheehanrts

More and more homeowners want to use their own solar energy, even for electric mobility or for heating. What is the task of the energy management system?

Kathrin Rust: The energy management system is one of the most important component in the household. We often say that it’s a little bit like a conductor of an orchestra. If the musicians just play what they want, it will never work. It is the conductor who says who has to play and what. It is similar in energy management. The control device decides which consumer gets the energy because sun is shining. Or because the tariff for grid supply is very cheap at the moment. The energy management system does that. It just makes a conductor and an orchestra the whole things in the household.

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What needs to be included in an energy management system?

It doesn’t have to be an independent system. It has to be free. It has to involve a lot of devices from many manufacturers. It has to be flexible for future needs because most of private households start with PV, then go to electromobility, then perhaps they get a heat pump, something like that. It’s over years. Step by step, they buy something. If you have a closed system, you always have to look, whether it still fits the system? We have to have an open system, an open energy management system with a lot of devices. I talk about more than 100 devices you need that you really can fill up the whole market and make your customer happy.

More about new inverters and energy management systems

Which options has the craftsman when he has an energy management system in his portfolio?

If you want to have a good fit by the customers, you have to have one system, may be, two. The second point in our system is, that you can offer your marketing and logo inside. If If you have a new system, you go to your neighbor and say, hey, look, I have a new system. Look, I can optimize everything and everything is working. Then that’s at the good point if you have that because you have one more touch point to your customer and one more touch point to your next customer.

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What is the focus of Solar Manager developing their own energy management system?

It’s really important that it’s an open system, that you have a lot of devices in it. Solar Manager have more than 400 devices in it. But we don’t want to have only devices put in our system. We want to make it really intelligent. One example, we have more than 40 heat pumps included, not only by SG-ready, we have put it really bidirectional. We really talk with the heat pump. We can make it heat up or slow it down. That’s something the customer can gain more than €300 per year, get a less off that.

It sounds like a huge certification effort that you have to manage?

Yes, we have really good people working in our company. They really do a good job. We have a good platform, and it’s really easy for us to do that.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

How can the craftsmen work together with you? What is your distribution strategy?

You can’t buy it by yourself. You just have to go to your favorite partner where you buy other components and parts for your solar business. You can buy our hardware there. Then you can get the installer account at our system where you get the free monitoring. You can see all your parts, all your customers, you can see everything has worked. The customer has only paid for the hardware, so you can give it through to him. Then the customer has also pay a little fee per year to us.

As I understand, there are no costs für the installers?

The installer have nothing to do with payment, something like that. Just do normally your job, but get support for that, get a good thing for that, for the monitoring, for the customer relationship. If the installer needs some help, we offer professional support. If you have the first installation you can call and we make it together with you. Also we have a strong knowledge base where you can everything see, how it works, how it can be installed.

Interview by Sven Ullrich

Find out more about Solar Manager.

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Solar Energy

CEO Interview – Bertrand Chevalley of AEG SolarSolutions: “People trust in our brands”

September 26, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Solar Solution offers packages for solar installers, branded at AEG in Germany. For international markets the brands are Electrolux and Duracell. What is the strategy behind it with your brands in the solar markets?

Bertrand Chevalley: We are experts in bringing world brands to the solar industry with marketing and quality. This is what we do. Our strategy is to find partners and markets that are sensitive to these brands. Each of these brands has a different recognition in each market. We need to wisely select our supply partner, product range and brand.

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AEG, Electrolux, and since this year, it’s DuraCell. What is the difference between them?

It’s a difference in each country and each market. For instance, Electrolux brand is obviously more famous in Scandinavia, where it belongs. AEG is a German brand, but it’s also quite famous in Benelux, France and obviously Central European countries.

And the Duracell?

Duracell is a typical worldwide brand. It’s famous on all continents.

And it’s focused on batteries, right?

Obviously, it is. But we can also bring solar panels with this brand together with the batteries or the storage systems.

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Do you offer new battery systems this year?

It is not only a new battery, it’s a new strategy to address the commercial and industrial storage businesses. We open up from the private sector to more commercialized sector, growing with the need of our customers. There is rising demand for bigger storage systems in all the markets.

More about new specialized trade for solar installers

How do you ensure the quality of the products that you offer under the umbrella of your brands?

First of all, we have a very strict selection of our manufacturing partners. We have to qualify them, inspect them and then we also have our own team in Asia inspecting each single batch of production. We give our own design and bill of material criteria and our own quality control sheet. So they can follow strictly independently and ensure us and our customers that we deliver the quality that matches with these powerful brands.

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That’s a lot of effort you’re doing to keep the quality as high as possible. Can the installers rely on this?

It’s a lot of effort, yes, but this is why we are here. We cannot bring such big brands without having the related quality level.

You mentioned Scandinavia and the Benelux. Which other markets in Europe are interesting for you?

Basically, all the markets are interesting for us. We do well in Benelux. We could do better in Scandinavia. We also do well in France, in Germany and in Central Europe. But we would like to develop more business in the Mediterranean area, also in Eastern Europe. But what we also like is to address all the continents, all the markets, because our brands are powerful all around the world.

Interview by Heiko Schwarzburger

Do you want to learn more about the solar packages from AEG, Duracell and Electrolux? Then please, look here!

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Solar Energy

CEO Interview – Ludwig Schletter of SL Rack: „Deadlines are critical in project business“

September 23, 2024 ryansheehanrts

How did the market for munting systems develop this year?

Ludwig Schletter: We started this year in a normal way. It’s not critically for us, but it’s a little bit decreasing, especially the rooftop market. But last year we have built many installations. We had a hype which is over now.

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The overheated market cooled down. How is it at the moment?

I hope we can continue this level and grow slowly. It’s very important for a company like ours. We need a steady business not the vibes up and down. This not manageable for a company. In the past we grew up to 200 % in one year or decreased or dropped off in the next. For a company, we cannot work this way.

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My impression is that more installers, more groups of installers, experts for the roofings and so on, are driving into solar business. Do you see this, too?

We are working with wholesalers. We have three steps of distribution, and we are not so close to the installers and their customers. But it’s true, some branches, some business is dropping off for the electrician and for small houses. They are looking for solar business, but they have an experience as electricians, they can do this in a good way, I think. The move is not so big. It’s just in the same business.

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What about solar projects in the fields, which is another part of your business?

Those projects are growing for us. They’re really growing, and we have a new facility for the production, a new production line. We are very happy to have this built up in spring this year. Now we are really competitive. Our capacity has doubled. We can deliver.

Do you produce in Bavaria?

In Bavaria. Not only in Germany but in Bavaria. That’s very important to say, because I am Upper Bavarian.

Why do you do this? Many competing companys go to factories in China.

We can also offer products made in China. It’s not a problem. We can also purchase in China. But we have the experience that the customer needs a short delivery time and need to be safe with the delivery. Sea transport means delays, for example.

Deadlines are critical in the solar project business …

Indeed, for a project it is a critical situation. If you need four weeks longer for shipping I have to postpone the project. Or cancel it, at worst.

Maybe you can balance problems in one market with chances in other markets. What are your main markets within Europe?

Very important is the German market, of course it is the main market. Next are Austria and Switzerland. But also Spain. We have started in Spain this year and have some projects done. It is a comfortable situation there. They have more radiation, more sun.

The Spain marktet was up and down and is rising again. When the waves of political support or resistance will come to an end?

I cannot understand why countries like Italy do not more in solar energy. Recently they discussed to stop the ground-mounted solar parks. I cannot understand what story is behind. But in the long-term, the economic rules may play the major part of it. I am convinced that all those markets are coming up again.

Interview by Heiko Schwarzburger

Find more about te mounting systems of SL Rack.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

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Solar Energy

Interview Fenecon – Franz-Josef Feilmeier: „The value chains are working“

September 21, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The demand for C&I storage systems is very high. Does the market have plenty of cells?

Franz-Josef Feilmeier: The value chains are working. As well as for the LFP cells, which we use in our indoor stationery systems, now from residential to commercial range, but also for the car batteries, those obsolete, very new batteries. Unfortunately, the electric car industry has some issues right now, but for us this means there are a lot of batteries available. Tehy are very new,of perfect quality, and they allow a quite good pricing for big storage systems.

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Which innovations does Fenecon offer this year?

We have a very new commercial storage system. There the core idea was to make it as easy as the residential systems. Just stackable, just add an inverter, automatic commissioning protocol, the same monitoring, the same energy management as everybody is used to.

To lower the obstacles for your customers?

The hurdle for the installer to do commercial also when he is used to do residential systems is quite easy. On the other end, we have our large systems. They are based on electric vehicle batteries. As I said, there are quite a lot of them available right now. That means we offer big and even much bigger systems at very good pricing. For those products we built two new factories One in Germany, already in operation, and another one in US. This will go into operation by the end of this year.

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Can you deliver the new products in a very short time to the customers?

Yes, of course. High demand, fast supply.

Everybody is expecting everything from a commercial storage solution. It has to be a universal genius. What are the most important functions to offer to your clients?

Especially in the C&I segment you don’t have this one system which you install one time and then it runs for 20 years without any change. Exactly, it’s completely opposite, by the way. We don’t see any system which does no changes. It’s an energy journey which is started with the installation of a storage system. Typically, the system itself grows by capacity, by power or by different applications from the energy management system or the surrounding.

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You mean, during the operation many things may change?

Of course! Maybe the solar installation will grow or the charging park will grow at a company site. This all needs to be handled by the energy management system. This is the core request for a C&I system. We actively manage and support this energy journey and support, especially for the installer who does the single separate steps then.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

You have to include dynamic proicing in your energy management system and more things which are coming up in the future, right?

Just imagine, you would have a storage system which would not be able to look in the period of time and involve actively dynamic tariffs. You would definitely get rid of the system, sorry to say. You definitely need it. Otherwise, the system is just not worth being operated there any longer. It’s a core requirement to really implement dynamic tariffs with a look into the future forecast of production of PV, if there is a photovoltaic installed. The curve of consumption and the solar yield have to be brought together to decide if you need additional electricity from outside. And when do you need to buy it from the grid.

We talked a lot about fire security of battery systems in Germany. How do you deal with that?

That’s an important issue. The biggest thing is quality. Unfortunately, there are so many suppliers, so many startups, especially in Asia, who produce something which looks good, definitely. But it’s a system which you really need to have under control that it’s not dangerous. That’s why I’m a bit concerned.

What Fenecon does to make the systems secure?

For us, it’s very important. We’re working very closely with CATL. They are the supplier of our LFP cells for the stackable indoor systems, but they are also the manufacturer, typically of these automotive cells, which we buy then from the automotive OEMs when they have its surplus,. But the cell still comes from CTL. The quality approach in the car industry, especially looking at the European premium or German premium OEMs, is definitely on much higher level than maybe a tier 2, tier 3 stationery storage manufacturer from somewhere.

Interview by Heiko Schwarzburger

https://fenecon.com/

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Solar Energy

André Kremer and Joel Wagner of Iqony Sens: Solar and wind become one unit

September 16, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The Essen Bay Steyr Group has merged its two business units for solar and wind energy projects. Why?

André Kremer: Putting together the two technologies is just the next logical step to transform the company from project development and EPC to one of Europe’s leading IPPs. We want to combine the technologies wind, solar and storage under one roof.

Joel Wagner: If you look at Steag‘s history, being an IPP is basically baked into it’s DNA. Transforming the renewable energy business towards the leading IPP makes sense. But how do we get there? First of all it’s important to understand that both business lines, the wind business as well as the solar business, have operated very successfully across Europe.

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How many projects have you already built?

Joel Wagner: We managed to implement an IPP portfolio of 250 megawatts in France, Germany and Italy. Now we are achieving the next logical step, which is expanding our IPP business. We are doing so by establishing two business lines under the roof of Iqony Sens. The one line focuses on the development, realization and commercialization of our own assets. And the second business line remains a very strong partner as EPC and O&M service provider for our customers in Europe.

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What synergy effects do you expect from the merger?

André Kremer: It’s not only about synergies, it’s rather completing each other. We’ve been very strong with the wind unit in France and Germany and also in Poland. We are very strong in the asset management, while the solar part was rather an agile developer in Germany, UK, Italy, and Spain. Putting it together means getting the most out of a project and a site. This is now of utmost importance. So not just increasing capacity, but using the most efficient technology to increase the output, base load capable, if possible, per construction site.

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How does the practical side look on the working together?

Joel Wagner: Look, where these projects are to be. They are actually developed and erected and managed, and it goes hand-to-hand with local acceptance. When we look at the stakeholders, municipalities, the local off-takers, we basically have the same stakeholders we want to team up with. So combining wind and PV in the early stage of projects makes a lot of sense. Because we want to become a very strong partner not just for the project development, but also for 20, 25 years to operate these assets.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

Is there also an aspect of grid security with this merger?

Joel Wagner: The technology complement each other because we have strong wind conditions during winter times. We obviously can generate green electricity during night times from wind turbines. Solar is super strong in the summer, during day time. We manage to address the volatility. Reliable base load generation from renewables is more and more needed. It is needed if you look at the data center business, if you look at the hydrogen business to store electricity.

What is special about hydro electric?

André Kremer: In the Iqony Group such solutions as standalone utility scale storage systems and hydrogen are well represented.

What effect will the merger have on the European market?

André Kremer: The vision is 100% clean and renewable energy. Putting these strong units together and delivering baseload energy, that puts us in the first row as one of the leading renewable energy provider.

Joel Wagner: Really important is to connect the generation side with the demand side. Within Icony we are developing also our own hydrogen projects. We’re developing large-scale battery storage solutions. Within Icony, we have the ability to really connect the generation but also the demand. This is a very important blueprint for the European market. The demand for renewables is increasing. We are focusing on a very diverse footprint within Europe. We are not just focusing on Germany, but we are focusing also on markets like Italy, like UK, like France. Because we really want to connect.

Interview by Manfred Gorgus

Do you want to learn more about Iqony Sens? Please look here.

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Solar Energy

Frank Henn of Kostal: „A universal genius for many applications“

September 10, 2024 ryansheehanrts

That the installers grow with the wishes of their customers. This is what we already know. But now you offer inverters, which can do the same. What is this all about?

Frank Henn: There are two topics I would like to point out. First topic is we increased the maximum power in the same housing. For the previous version, we ended up with 10 kW. Now we are at 20 kW in the same size.

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That’s the first point. And the second one?

The second point is each device can get an upgrade in output power. When you buy the product, you have two steps to increase the power. Let’s say you have the medium version, you get it with 8.5 kW. You can upgrade it to 10 or 12.5 kW, so you have a lot of flexibility.

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So the upgrade is already included?

Of course, it is included, yes.

What I learned, too, is that’s not only a string inverter. It might be a hybrid inverter or battery inverter, too. Is it a universal genius?

Yes, indeed. Our philosophy is that we make our installers as productive as possible. When they receive the product, it is always configured as a solar inverter, and they have the choice before installation to convert it into a hybrid inverter or into a pure battery inverter. To do that, they have to get into our web shop and buy some activation codes.

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You don’t have to screw somewhere to get the upgrade. You just have to get a code to activate it?

Absolutely. That is a completely digital process. You get connected with your mobile phone with the inverter, and select what you like to have, push the button, and then it gets transferred the new settings into the inverter.

At least one device fits all?

Yes. And it is made in Germany, the factory is located in Germany.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

You took a lot of money into your hand at Kostal Solar Electric. What’s the strategy behind it?

We think that we can be very competitive in Germany, also with production in Germany. Kostal Solar Electric is embedded in the Kostal Automotive Group, where we have a lot of high professional automatism processes and so on. The big advantage is we have our R&D team and production side by side, which gives a very good connection and brings us to better solutions.

What do your customers say about it?

One very important topic is our customers like to have a product produced in Germany, where all the controls, all the smart functions of the system and all the connection to the environment via Internet is handled in Germany. We think that is a wise decision for our position in the market.

Are the new Plenticore G3 already available?

Yes, the product is available. We filled the stock of our distributors with the biggest site already in May This is actually running the stock filling of our distributors for the mid-side version. And the S version will be stocked into our wholesalers in next month. So the product is available and ready to order and ready to get installed.

Interview by Heiko Schwarzburger

To get more information about the Plenticore G3, please refer to the website.

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Solar Energy

Katharina David of K2 Systems: „We call the close cooperation a connecting strength“

September 5, 2024 ryansheehanrts

How long have you been in the solar business?

Katharina David: For 20 years K2 Systems builds up a close partnership with the installers. 20 years of connecting strength. 20 years that our customers are quite satisfied with the products we deliver. We call ist connecting strength, this connection between the ones who are using our products, the installers, and us learning from them to bring them new products for their needs.

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K2 Systems are one of the pioneers in digitalization of all the processes. What can you offer to save money, time, and hands?

We try to look at all the steps around installation that we help them to really gain some time, because gaining time is gaining money as well, and being able to scale up more. On the product side we really try to make it as simple as possible because the ease of installation helps as well on site. On the other hand, we have with K2 Base a super product to plan not only the mounting system, but the Inverters, too.

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Is it possible to order with the help of the K2 Base?

It is connected with our web shop and with the web shops of our PV distribution partners or electrical wholesalers. There they can really transfer what they are doing directly to the web shop. That helps tremendously. We get really good feedback. And that’s also part of connecting strength, working in these networks. When we try to avoid in between steps, that makes life far easier.

More about new mounting systems

A new field are solar facades. Wat do you think about this part of the market?

The optical challenges are much more more complex than on the rooftop. I am sure that facades coming up to become a new business. That‘s why we offer special mounting systems for vertical installations. Of course, the rooftop market is at least four, five times bigger. It’s still dominating. But the solar facades will come.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

What is your strategy in this new field?

Our approach is to standardize as much as possible. If we deliver a standardized solution the installer is able to do it on a regular basis. Every day again. We are more on the standardized way so that we really can use not only the rooftop, but also the façade of C&I buildings to generate energy.

How do you help your customers to apply the systems? How do you get in contact to make them ready for digital processes, make them ready for visualization?

We have something like an academy. We start with our resource center on the website. There you get all information you need. Then on the other hand, we have the frequently webinairs every week. In these webinairs we have frequency rate as well. And there we try to cover the needs of the installer, to teach them our products and to teach them, how they can make their life easier.

To complicate matters you need to do it for international customers. Which are the most important markets?

At the moment we are in an on-off situation in Europe. The Nordics are in a transition phase, a little bit fade down, but not totally. Then we have on-off situation in some Eastern countries or Middle Eastern countries. Italy will come up, will go back to a boom, I assume for C&I. Spain isn’t really good. France is still a really interesting market for us. The conditions in Germany are good but the market slows down compared to last two years. Let’s move and let’s generate to get the energy transition.

Interview by Heiko Schwarzburger

If you want to learn more about K2 Systems, look here.

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Solar Energy

Tim Yuan of Ampace: „Temperature control in batteries is essential“

September 3, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Ampace is one of the big solar battery suppliers. What are the reasons for your success?

Tim Yuan: For the last few years we have grown our business really fast. With our strong customer support, we gained some business success. We are quite focused on what we are doning. We have different business applications like the energy storage systems, like the power pack batteries and the microelectrical vehicles.

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It is a wide range of technology, isn‘t it?

We are always keep refining and innovating new technology. That helps our customer gain success. In the energy storage system, last year we were the first company to launch our Quinlan sales. That can prolong the product life to 15,000 cycles, with the State of Health of 80 SoC. Last year we also launched the Queen Euro with BP chemistry for the power product. And we also launched our jumper power battery. I think this is the most powerful product in the market. This year we launched the unique series for the microelectrical vehicle.

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The full temperature control technology adopted in your battery modules is really innovative. What benefits does it bring to your customers in practice?

For the traditional product, they usually use zero liquid cooling or the air conditioner. But for our product, we developed a special technology without a liquid cooling and without air conditioner.

Big storage systems for solar projects and investors

That’s very interesting because you have less service parts. How does this benefit the cost side?

This simplified structure can improve the reliability and reduce the operation downtime. I think that’s very important for our customers. Compared with the conventional product, their energy consumption loss is about 1.56 %, round about half of the losses in conventional systems. Less losses mean more energy output.

More about new storage systems

How many kilowatt-hours would we talk here?

This system is about 256 kilowatt-hours. It can support one CP and even two CP.

More innovation on video – watch PV Guided Tours!

What are the markets you are aiming at? Which markets are these temperature controls tailored for?

For the European market, because they have a very high standard requirement for safety and product quality. Because we also developed a new technology like the cell share technology. This technology is good for the prevention of thermal run away. For example, if there is a one cell triggered by thermal run away, the heat will be isolated from the surrounding cells. We also developed a directional explosion venting system. In some extreme cases many cells get out of control. The directional venting system leads the pressure out with our design.

Interview by Manfred Gorgus

If you want to know more about the system, please look here.

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