LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sonnenbatterie, a market leader for smart energy storage systems with offices in Los Angeles, California and Bavaria, Germany, today announced the opening of a new research and development facility in Atlanta, GA. The new 5,000 sq. ft. space will house 12-15 engineers who will expand Sonnenbatterie’s current array of next generation smart energy storage devices for homes and businesses.
Sonnenbatterie is the German market leader for lithium storage systems with corporate and manufacturing headquarters in Wildpoldsried, Germany, 90 minutes from Munich. The company has sold over 8,000 units of its intelligent energy storage system to homeowners and businesses since entering the market in 2011. Coupled with a solar energy system, the Sonnenbatterie can supply residential owners with 100 percent of their energy needs in addition to providing backup power for the home and taking advantage of different tariff structures for off-peak vs. on-peak. For commercial customers, Sonnenbatterie helps reduce demand spikes that lead to peak load charges.
"Sonnenbatterie has come to symbolize performance, design, and value in Europe, and we aim to develop that same reputation here in the United States," said Boris von Bormann, CEO of Sonnenbatterie USA. “Our new Atlanta R&D facility gives us a unique platform to stay close to our American customers and partners, and deliver to them custom tailored products that are best suited for the US market.”
The new Atlanta facility will be the center for product development, prototyping, and testing for the US market. Sonnenbatterie took over the space from inverter developer SolarMax.
In Europe, Sonnenbatterie is a market leader in Germany and has channel partners in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg and Slovakia. In 2014, the company began operations in the United States in 2014 where it is actively recruiting channel partners to serve as Sonnenbatterie Centers. Recently Sonnenbatterie signed an agreement with Sungevity, the largest privately held solar company in the US, for supplying it with storage systems.
The market for electricity storage has grown dramatically in recent years, and is projected to grow by 250% in 2015 to a capacity of 220 MW. In this environment, the Sonnenbatterie GmbH has doubled its sales every year from 2012 to 2014. The company has raised a total of $13M in venture capital to date from partners including SET Ventures, Munich Venture Partners, and eCAPITAL.
Sonnenbatterie is a fully integrated storage system that includes battery cells, inverter, and energy management in one package and allows for extremely fast and inexpensive installation. It offers an array of smart functions like peak shaving and remote management, and has an industry-leading expected life of 10,000 charge cycles.
