Page 29 - Green Builder July-August 2020 Issue
P. 29
sonnen
An innovative approach to home solar storage is just one example
of this company’s groundbreaking steps forward in sustainability.
T WAS ONLY A DECADE AGO when Christoph Ostermann
and Torsten Stiefenhofer introduced a radical product that
addressed a simple question: Why shouldn’t a homeowner’s
solar power stay with their home instead of sending it back
I to the grid?
Enter the sonnenBatterie, the world’s first all-in-one Lithium
ion home battery system. Consumers now had a way to save their
photovoltaic system’s excess energy for a rainy day—literally. “Our
vision was for every household to become a clean, small power
plant,” recalls Ostermann, the company’s co-founder and global CEO.
“The sonnenBatterie was ahead of its time when the market for a
home battery did not exist. We had no competition…and we had no
customers, either.”
Fast-forward years, and sonnen’s focus has gone from solely
home batteries to smart energy storage systems. It has become one
of the largest producers of clean power storage options, with some
, units installed around the world, and factories in Germany,
North America and Australia.
While sonnen of and sonnen of are completely dierent,
the overall goal is the same, according to Ostermann. “In a new
market, that did not exist before, you have to adjust to new situations
and to continually reinvent yourself,” he admits. “That’s why we
did not stop being a manufacturer for smart storage systems…we
realized that it was just the rst step of creating a new energy world
that is clean, decentralized, digital and aordable. And that is where If we succeed to free our energy production from
we’re going.” carbon-based emissions within the next 10 years, we
The key to success is to think about what a consumer wants in
terms of electric power, a philosophy sonnen has embraced since day will not only protect our environment but also our
one. There has always been somewhere else to go with an idea. That
has kept the company very busy—and very successful. economic and political freedom.
With new Virtual Power Plant (VPP) software, sonnen has
developed a critical platform for a new energy system that connects Salt Lake City-based Rocky Mountain Power, recently launched
electric devices to form a VPP. It allows a network of storage units the rst VPP in North America. Soleil Lofts, a -unit all-electric
to participate in the control power market via a simple internet apartment community in Herriman, Utah, has a sonnen energy
connection. Providers can license to network micro-installations of storage unit in each apartment. The design encompasses all amenities
up to kilowatts (kW), which includes home storage systems, such including heating, hot water and cooking powered by clean energy.
as the sonnenBatterie, heat pumps, and various charging devices for Residents also benet from access to electric vehicle chargers,
electric vehicles. on-site solar and batteries for lower total electric bills, cleaner energy,
Linked to this is sonnenCommunity, an energy group that and backup power for reliable electricity.
combines all sonnen customers, who can participate in producing, Two other innovations aren’t available in the U.S.—yet. sonnenNow
storing or even sharing their energy with others. Customers can, allows customers to rent a photovoltaic system and a sonnenBatterie
for example, participate in a VPP that provides grid stability when for a monthly fee, rather than having to purchase one outright.
needed for the benet of anyone who is connected to the grid. In sonnenDrive is an all-inclusive-subscription for a brand-new electric
some markets, households that participate in the sonnenCommunity car. It oers a six-month trial period to help a consumer decide if an
receive an annual prot share in return. electric vehicle suits their lifestyle. Both programs are only available
sonnen, in conjunction with real estate rm Wasatch Group and in Germany. GB
www.greenbuildermedia.com July/August 2020 GREEN BUILDER 27
14-38 GB 0720 Eco-Leaders.indd 27 8/12/20 1:23 PM
