What recent technological advances have been made in Sunwoda’s C&I and utility solutions?
Yuan: Our BESS system technology prioritizes user convenience and practicality, featuring five main advantages. First is cell technology. We utilize high-capacity lithium iron phosphate (LFP) 314 cells, which are known for high safety, a long lifespan, fast charging, and environmental benefits. Second is the seamless integration of the energy management system (EMS), the battery management system (BMS), and the power conversion system (PCS), which reduces installation time and simplifies control. The third advantage is grid services, which provide frequency regulation and auxiliary services, enhancing the customer's investment returns. Fourth is the fact that system capacity can be adjusted with modular additions that support future expansion. And fifth is our technology's compliance with international standards, which ensures interoperability and adherence to various regulations, with localized production facilities.
What are the main factors driving interest in energy storage from utilities?
Yuan: In recent years, we have witnessed strong growth in the energy storage industry. Sunwoda is seeing increased demand in Europe, the US, Australia, and many other countries, driven by needs such as peak shaving, frequency regulation, and arbitrage. When we began our energy storage business in 2014, we focused on making more reliable products with higher performance and greater cost-effectiveness. These factors contribute significantly to the investment returns for our global partners, especially utility companies.
What type of energy storage projects is Sunwoda working on with partners globally and in Europe?
Yuan: Sunwoda has been working closely with global partners on energy storage projects for years. In Europe, in particular, we have assisted them from the early phases of project development, including feasibility studies and financial modeling, through to product delivery and commissioning. As Sunwoda’s products represent the highest value of their project investment, we recognize the challenge of designing and implementing technology projects to ensure they are matched with the most suitable products and services. Our 46 MWh and 100 MWh projects in Europe demonstrate how we are overcoming these challenges with our customers, gaining their trust for upcoming 100 MWh+ projects.
Image: Sunwoda
What should homeowners take into consideration when purchasing an energy storage system?
Song: Homeowners should consider safety, reliability, and return on investment. With an energy storage system, they can improve the self-consumption of their PV system from 20% to 80%. However, it is important to choose the right products in terms of safety and reliability with competitive prices; thus, they'll be able to collect their investment back during its lifetime.
How has the growth in EVs influenced the development and evolution of residential ESS?
Song: As EVs are popular in many countries, it is reasonable to charge the EV with sustainable energy using AC-coupled or DC-coupled solutions. Buying additional residential batteries for EV charging is more feasible due to competitive prices, unlike using EV batteries for home charging (E2H) due to limited cycle life. Unless EV cell performance improves for long-cycle applications and prices decrease, using EV batteries for electricity arbitrage won't be affordable.
Popular content
The questions and responses in this sponsored interview article were provided by Sunwoda.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.