The Sonnen InnovationHub is expected to begin production of sonnenBatterie products in the second quarter of 2017 and will enable the company to rapidly innovate, producing award-winning systems for the US market from one central location in Atlanta, Georgia. The new facility will help Sonnen capitalise on its expertise in new product innovation for homeowners, utilities, and new business channels and enable the company to quickly ramp up production capacity, ultimately making energy storage more affordable.
“Sonnen US has experienced exponential sales growth over the past year, making the Sonnen InnovationHub a smart investment to capitalise upon the immense potential of the North American energy storage market” said Christoph Ostermann, Sonnen Group CEO. “We expect that linking our US manufacturing and R&D teams in one facility will increase the rate of product innovation, and enable us to better adapt to the future needs of the high-growth US residential energy storage market.”
Blake Richetta, Vice President of Sales for Sonnen North America, added that the US market represents a significant opportunity for the company as it looks towards expansion, encouraging energy independence globally. The company is seeing a rapidly growing number of homeowners interested in achieving energy independence, with a large proportion seeking smart storage and software capabilities for better efficiency and management of their renewable energy output.
Sonnen is aiming to create an intelligent network of over 16,000 battery storage systems, including backup power and solar self-consumption for individual homes and the formation of a virtual clean energy power plant through the aggregation of multiple systems. In this way, the company is hoping to increase the resiliency of the US utility grid, providing customers with an alternative to conventional power sources.
The company’s move to a central InnovationHub represents a significant opportunity for the company to contribute to the creation of American manufacturing and electrical and mechanical engineering jobs, amid current political uncertainty. It has already begun renovations to the existing facility, creating a custom-designed state-of-the-art facility which will bring new clean tech jobs to the Southeast and a company presence to the East Coast, complementing its office in Los Angeles, CA.
Sonnen currently develops and manufactures the sonnenBatterie smart energy management systems in Germany, Atlanta and California. Through its sonnenCommunity, energy independent homeowners throughout Europe can produce, store and share their own electricity. Sonnen’s latest developments, the sonnenFlat-Box, which connects non-solar customers to the sonnenCommunity and grid services, and the sonnenFlat tariff, which provides community members with energy at $0 for 10 years, are aimed at changing the way energy is used.
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