Hanwha SolarOne Makes Aggressive Push into Energy Storage Market through Partnership with Silent Power
Leads $8 million funding round; Bundled products to hit market by September
Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd., (Hanwha SolarOne), a top-10 global photovoltaic manufacturer of low-cost, high-quality solar photovoltaic modules, today announced a strategic partnership with Silent Power, the innovative energy storage systems company.
The Hanwha Group, Korea's top-10 business group, led Silent Power's Series B funding round with an $8 million investment. The investment in Silent Power is an aggressive move into an important market downstream and lays the foundation for a robust partnership. The investment strengthens the Hanwha Solar network, enhancing the Hanwha Group's solar offerings.
The strategic partnership will feature a co-marketing strategy for bundling Hanwha SolarOne's high quality photovoltaic (PV) panels with Silent Power's distributed energy storage device, the OnDemandTM Energy Appliance, to offer a complete solar power and energy storage system for the residential, commercial and industrial markets. The first bundled product offering will be ready by September of this year.
"We know from our customers that energy storage is an essential key to unlocking the full potential of renewable energy. It enables a smarter energy grid and achieves reliability and value for a solar system," said Charles Kim, president of Hanwha SolarOne. "Hanwha SolarOne is building the solar economy of the future with focused, strategic partnerships like this collaboration with Silent Power. It expands the Hanwha SolarOne's portfolio of product offerings and builds upon our goal to be the most innovative, flexible and reliable partner for our customers."
The ability to store energy for later use enhances the value of solar PV by stabilizing intermittent solar energy generation and reducing peak demand loads across the grid. Energy production from solar PV peaks during prime sunlight hours, typically from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and does not always align with the peak demand for energy. By storing excess energy produced during times of peak production, the energy can be saved for later use. The stored energy can be used locally by the owner of the system, or can be used by the local utility company to provide power to the electric grid during times of peak demand. The OnDemand Energy Appliance can also provide backup power to the owner during grid outages.
"Bundling the innovative OnDemand Energy Appliance with high quality solar PV panels from Hanwha SolarOne will offer a valuable distributed power system to consumers looking for a renewable energy solution," said Todd Headlee, chief executive officer of Silent Power. "The global strategic partnership with a market leader like Hanwha SolarOne will help accelerate greater commercial deployment of Silent Power's energy storage technology."
Hanwha SolarOne
Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: HSOL) is one of the top 10 photovoltaic module manufacturers in the world, providing cost-competitive, high quality PV modules. It is a flagship company of Hanwha Group, one of the largest business enterprises in South Korea. Hanwha SolarOne serves the utility, commercial, government and residential markets through a growing network of third-party distributors, OEM manufacturers and system integrators. The company maintains a strong presence worldwide, with a global business network spanning Europe, North America, Asia, South America, Africa and the Middle East. As a responsible company committed to sustainability, Hanwha SolarOne is an active member of the PV Cycle take-back and recycling program.
For more information, visit: www.qcells.com/us/
Hanwha Group
Founded in 1952, Hanwha has grown quickly by anticipating and responding to changing business environments with a balanced business portfolio that includes energy & materials, aerospace, finance and retail & services. Our expertise and synergy in key areas have catapulted us into the seventh-largest business in South Korea and a Fortune Global 500 company. Hanwha continues to grow rapidly as we strive to pursue global leadership in all of our businesses. We are building a robust foundation for sustainable development and a brighter future for everyone.
For more information, visit: www.hanwha.com
Silent Power
Based in Baxter, Minn., Silent Power, Inc. manufactures and markets easy-to-install, highly reliable distributed energy storage systems for the renewable energy and backup power markets. The company has developed dispatchable storage solutions for grid-tied solar and electric vehicle charging applications, and its solutions are easily adaptable to any battery chemistry and utility advanced metering infrastructure or distribution automation communications platform. The company is working with more than a dozen utilities across the United States on energy storage projects.
For more information, visit: www.silentpwr.com
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