A supplier of intelligent power electronics for smart grids and micro-grids, Sustainable Energy Technologies today shipped its first energy storage inverters to prospective channel partners in Germany and the United States.
The inverters are meant to demonstrate the value of the company's technology in integrating high-efficiency battery technologies in smart and micro-grid scenarios.
"We are experiencing across the board interest in our bi-directional energy storage inverter in Germany, which works with all the new battery technologies, for its efficiency and smart grid functionality but especially for its ability to reduce the cost and complexity of the energy management systems," said Michael Carten, CEO at Sustainable Energy, in a statement. "In the U.S., we are seeing interest in the platform for diesel based micro-grids for our cost and efficiency advantages."
Boasting the highest round trip efficiencies for grid-interactive energy storage inverters in the power industry, Sustainable Energy's bi-directional energy storage inverter has been designed to be easily integrated into power management systems, allowing OEM partners to develop less expensive products for multiple markets quickly.
The platform is software configurable and has an open communications protocol that enables full control over battery charging and discharging functions.
In European smart grids, the company's inverter helps manage the integration of batteries and solar power with the power grid, optimizing the use of lower cost solar electricity. This sort of setup is in heavy demand in Germany, where consumers seek lower electricity prices.
Micro-grids, meanwhile, are small islands of power serving multiple loads and usually disconnected from the utility grid. Energy storage is used on micro grids in combination with diesels to provide consistent high quality power.
In January, Sustainable Energy Technologies secured $500,000 of equity financing from Doughty Hanson Technology Venture. This money is to fund the production of Sustainable Energy Technologies' 3rd generation PARALEX "STX" inverter, as well as its "AC Battery" product for Germany and Japan.
Edited by Braden Becker