The certification will effectively allow the HUB to be marketed and installed throughout North America. The UL 1741 Standard covers converters, inverters, controllers and interconnection system equipment for use with distributed energy resources. Going forward, all Axion "HUB" units will bear labeling attesting to the certifications.
The Residential Energy Storage Hub offers secure home power for the high-end residential market segment including uninterruptible, distortion-free power capabilities, as well as an ability to store energy from renewable sources or from the electric grid. The HUB also protects a residence's electrical circuitry, prioritizes its circuits and has the ability to be grid-connected so that either on a regular or occasional basis the homeowner can participate in demand-response and/or power curtailment with a local utility.
Axion Power Chairman and CEO Thomas Granville commented, "The Residential Storage Hub performed very well throughout the entire testing protocol. End dates are sometimes difficult to predict when strenuous testing protocol standards such as UL are involved, so we didn't commit to specific go-forward time frames back in September. Now that this major hurdle has been cleared, we can move forward on all fronts of commercialization and bring the product to market."
"Our HUB product was created to be the gold standard, the energy storage and conversion product of choice for the high-end residential market," Granville added, "and the certification testing has reinforced our belief that it can be a significant leader in this market. We have already generated a high level of interest among homeowners who want secure power without interruption. That interest was buoyed by the unveiling of the product through Rosewater Energy at the CEDIA EXPO 2012 this past September in Indianapolis, where the "HUB" won two awards, 2012 CE Pro BEST Award (Best Electronic Systems Technologies) and the 2012 Custom Retailer EXC!TE Award."
The HUB is based on the same technology and design as the Axion PowerCube, a power storage system that includes strings of PbC batteries that provide the product's real value proposition. The PowerCube leverages the PbC's exceptionally long life, extremely high charge acceptance, fast rate of re-charge and its inherent ability to equalize charge in battery strings and in individual battery cells.
The basic "plug and play" HUB residential system includes PbC batteries and all the necessary electronics including a bi-directional inverter and electronics that modify operation to 4-quadrant functionality. Other premium products would add features to produce exceptionally clean undistorted power when used with renewables, such as solar or wind, the utility grid, or from generators.
Axion has developed and patented a next generation energy storage device that won the prestigious Frost & Sullivan Technology Award for North America in the field of lead-acid batteries. According to Frost & Sullivan, Axion's new PbC® batteries have "the potential to revitalize the lead-acid battery industry by breathing new life into an established technology that is not well suited to the requirements of important new applications like hybrid electric vehicles and renewable power."
Axion Power International, Inc. is the industry leader in the field of lead-acid-carbon energy storage technologies. Axion believes its new PbC battery technology is the only class of advanced battery that can be assembled on existing lead-acid battery production lines throughout the world utilizing Axion's proprietary carbon electrodes. Axion's future goal, after filling their plant's lead-carbon battery production capacity, is to become the leading supplier of carbon electrode assemblies for the global lead-acid battery industry.
For more information, visit www.axionpower.com
