Kokam

The inverter and battery manufacturer says its new Sella 2 factory will produce cells for its residential solar-plus-battery products as well as for other applications.

Lack of flannel in the latest quarterly and full-year filing indicates the Israeli inverter maker is happy the figures speak for themselves. The company is in an expansionary mode as it enters the energy storage and electrical vehicle markets with cash from its financial warchest.

At the Smarter E Europe trade show in Munich, pv magazine caught up with Lior Handelsman, VP for marketing and product strategy and founder of Solaredge. The Israeli company made headlines as it went on an acquisition spree in the last year to leverage its position in the storage and EV charging business.

Back in October 2018, SolarEdge announced its acquisition of Korean battery maker Kokam. Executives from both companies will be featuring as a part of discussions at pv magazine’s Future PV Roundtable during Intersolar 2019 and Lior Handelsman, Founder and VP for marketing and product strategy for SolarEdge spoke to pv magazine about the acquisition and strategy.

Owners of residential PV systems increasingly want more features. Virtual power plants, smart EV charging and self-consumption measured by ever higher percentages of self-sufficiency have been buzzwords in the industry. The result has been a new breed of smart bidirectional inverters, sometimes dubbed hybrid inverters. And with utilities having found business models that also work out in their favor, could a new dawn of residential installations rise over the world of suburbia?

Unimpressed by last year’s China policy-related shenanigans, the inverter maker continued to grow at a rapid pace as it acquired storage, uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and e-mobility related businesses. Its full-year results place SolarEdge in a good position going into a more promising year, with solar installations expected to hit double-digit growth figures in many markets and reach 120 GW globally.

The storage system company, in which Solaredge recently acquired a majority share, has said it will commission two large storage systems in South Korea before the end of the year. The market looks somewhat promising according to recent government initiatives, like the ‘Renewable Energy 3020’ plan and a 3 GW solar park on reclaimed land.

German inverter maker SMA has joined forces with China’s BYD after losing US market share to Solaredge, which this year linked up with Kostal to optimize communication interfaces between inverters and storage applications.

The inverter maker will buy 75% of Kokam’s shares for $88 million, with an intent to acquire the remainder shortly after, on the open market. Strategic company acquisitions and close partnerships are characterizing this year’s inverter market, as companies seek to diversify and integrate storage systems and other technologies.