Press articles

Soleil Lofts will eventually have 600 units with solar panels and utility-controlled batteries, making the development a virtual power plant that Rocky Mountain Power can tap when energy demand is high.

The virtual power plant outside of Salt Lake City underscores the role of utility involvement in emerging grid products. As distributed energy increases on the grid, many utilities are looking for ways to leverage behind-the-meter solar, especially when paired with energy storage.

Sonnen and the utility are partnering to build a virtual power plant at the new 600-unit apartment complex, with 12.6 MWh of energy capacity from a 5.2 MW solar array.

Herriman • The apartment complex rising on the southwestern edge of Salt Lake County looks like any other forming on empty lots, former farmland and razed scrub oak seemingly everywhere in Utah. But the 600-unit complex called Soleil Lofts is unlike anything seen in Utah — or in the United States, according to developer Wasatch Premier Communities and its partners.

“This is what we’ve been working on for years,” says Blake Richetta, CEO of the U.S. business at Shell-owned sonnen.

Today, energy storage company sonnen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Shell), real estate developer Wasatch Group, and utility Rocky Mountain Power (a subsidiary of Pacificorp) announced a unique and ground-breaking virtual power plant (VPP) in Herriman, Utah, just outside of Salt Lake City.

With a battery in every apartment, the whole complex can store extra power when the sun shines, and then move it around where it’s needed at night.

Testing of the lithium-ion phosphate battery technology used by sonnenBatterie ecoLinx reveals its higher safety level compared to cobalt-based batteries used by Tesla Powerwall and others.

The recent explosion at an Arizona energy storage facility renewed concerns about battery safety. The incident highlighted the need to educate regulators and lawmakers, a sonnen official said.

Battery storage company sonnen's ecoLinx will be the centerpiece of 'Wildwood of Marengo' passive home community. $700K homes represent sonnen's third sonnenCommunity in U.S.

sonnen charged into the Solar Power International (SPI) show in Anaheim, California, this week with its new ecoLinx home energy management system.

September 6, 2018 - San Diego, CA – sonnen, the global market leader in smart residential energy storage, today announced that its groundbreaking and industry-disrupting product, energy automation with ecoLinx, has been recognized as a winner of the 2018 CE Pro BEST Award in the Energy Management category.

Sonnen debuts its ecoLinx energy management system at CEDIA Expo 2018, calling the category 'previously ignored and industry disrupting.'

As the utility on the island continues to fail, new systems of renewables–installed after the storm–are showing what a more resilient grid could look like.

It’s been a while since custom integrators could get “energized” about a new equipment category. But residential energy storage could "spark" a whole new wave of enthusiasm, along with high profits and recurring monthly revenue (RMR), among integrators. The newest entrant into the space is sonnen, a 10-year-old Germany-based maker of high-end residential energy storage systems. The company’s technology is widespread in Europe, serving nearly 30,000 homes.

Solar Plus Storage Microgrids Bring Relief to Puerto Rico — And Hint of the Future

High in the mountains of central Puerto Rico, a school that’s been without power for five months since Hurricane Maria has given up on the island’s utility. Classrooms at the SU Matrullas school in Orocovis are now entirely powered by solar panels and battery storage systems supplied by sonnen GmbH and local developer Pura Energia. 

German battery maker sonnen GmbH on Thursday said it would partner with home builder Mandalay Homes to outfit 3,000 new Arizona homes with batteries to store the excess energy generated by their rooftop solar installations.

I recently had an opportunity to speak with Blake Richetta, Vice President of Sales for sonnen – the residential energy storage company that began focusing on U.S. markets in 2015. Richetta, who was briefly Tesla’s North American Powerwall sales manager, has an extensive background in lighting controls (working for Lutron for over 15 years), and understands the automated home environment.

Sonnen gains China’s Envision Energy as stakeholder before IPO. Sonnen GmbH, a German solar-energy-storage maker that competes against Tesla Motors Inc.’s Powerwall battery, may pursue an initial share sale as early as 2017 to develop additional services.

Why software and data are critical to getting the most value out of distributed energy storage. 

Los Angeles Times - German company plugs into L.A. area for its electricity storage operation

The German storage company's CEO talks U.S. markets, partnerships with utilities and the competition with Tesla

pv magazine LIVE takes a look at the Sonnen eco, a plug-and-play residential battery storage system which was launched on the U.S. market in December. Joining pv magazine LIVE is Sonnen CEO Boris von Bormann and Senior Technical Trainer Greg Smith.

Germany's Sonnen is bringing its community aggregation approach to the U.S. residential storage market.

sonnenBatterie Battery system beats Tesla Powerwall to US

German battery maker Sonnenbatterie has launched a scheme to connect households with solar panels and other consumers, aiming to better distribute surpluses of the renewable energy and help members to become more independent of conventional suppliers.

A small company in Germany may be years ahead of Tesla Motors in energy storage.