What recent technological advances have been made in Sunwoda’s C&I and utility solutions?
Yuan: Our BESS system technology prioritizes user convenience and practicality, featuring five main advantages. First is cell technology. We utilize high-capacity lithium iron phosphate (LFP) 314 cells, which are known for high safety, a long lifespan, fast charging, and environmental benefits. Second is the seamless integration of the energy management system (EMS), the battery management system (BMS), and the power conversion system (PCS), which reduces installation time and simplifies control. The third advantage is grid services, which provide frequency regulation and auxiliary services, enhancing the customer's investment returns. Fourth is the fact that system capacity can be adjusted with modular additions that support future expansion. And fifth is our technology's compliance with international standards, which ensures interoperability and adherence to various regulations, with localized production facilities.
What are the main factors driving interest in energy storage from utilities?
Yuan: In recent years, we have witnessed strong growth in the energy storage industry. Sunwoda is seeing increased demand in Europe, the US, Australia, and many other countries, driven by needs such as peak shaving, frequency regulation, and arbitrage. When we began our energy storage business in 2014, we focused on making more reliable products with higher performance and greater cost-effectiveness. These factors contribute significantly to the investment returns for our global partners, especially utility companies.
What type of energy storage projects is Sunwoda working on with partners globally and in Europe?
Yuan: Sunwoda has been working closely with global partners on energy storage projects for years. In Europe, in particular, we have assisted them from the early phases of project development, including feasibility studies and financial modeling, through to product delivery and commissioning. As Sunwoda’s products represent the highest value of their project investment, we recognize the challenge of designing and implementing technology projects to ensure they are matched with the most suitable products and services. Our 46 MWh and 100 MWh projects in Europe demonstrate how we are overcoming these challenges with our customers, gaining their trust for upcoming 100 MWh+ projects.
Image: Sunwoda
What should homeowners take into consideration when purchasing an energy storage system?
Song: Homeowners should consider safety, reliability, and return on investment. With an energy storage system, they can improve the self-consumption of their PV system from 20% to 80%. However, it is important to choose the right products in terms of safety and reliability with competitive prices; thus, they'll be able to collect their investment back during its lifetime.
How has the growth in EVs influenced the development and evolution of residential ESS?
Song: As EVs are popular in many countries, it is reasonable to charge the EV with sustainable energy using AC-coupled or DC-coupled solutions. Buying additional residential batteries for EV charging is more feasible due to competitive prices, unlike using EV batteries for home charging (E2H) due to limited cycle life. Unless EV cell performance improves for long-cycle applications and prices decrease, using EV batteries for electricity arbitrage won't be affordable.
What energy storage trends do you see for the future?
Song: Sunwoda's C&I products have a good presence in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, which have seen significant economic development and growth in EVs. Based on our experience, we see that energy storage needs to be widely adopted to lessen the need to upgrade transformers at C&I properties, which would consume a lot of time and capital. Meanwhile, the installation of PV paired with storage will not only help a lot of companies in developing countries to overcome power shortages and load shedding, it will also reduce the cost of electricity.
The questions and responses in this sponsored interview article were provided by Sunwoda.
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