Based in Baxter, Minnesota, Silent Power, Inc. manufactures easy-to-install, distributed energy storage systems for the renewable energy and backup power markets. The company has developed dispatchable storage solutions for grid-tied solar and electric vehicle charging applications, and its solutions are easily adaptable to any battery chemistry and utility advanced metering infrastructure or distribution automation communications platform.
The Hanwha Group, Korea’s top-10 business group, led Silent Power’s Series B funding round with an $8 million investment. The investment in Silent Power is an aggressive move into an important market downstream and lays the foundation for a robust partnership. The investment strengthens the Hanwha Solar network, enhancing the Hanwha Group’s solar offerings.
The strategic partnership will feature a co-marketing strategy for bundling Hanwha SolarOne’s high quality photovoltaic (PV) panels with Silent Power’s distributed energy storage device, the OnDemandTM Energy Appliance, to offer a complete solar power and energy storage system for the residential, commercial and industrial markets. The first bundled product offering will be ready by September of this year.
“We know from our customers that energy storage is an essential key to unlocking the full potential of renewable energy. It enables a smarter energy grid and achieves reliability and value for a solar system,” said Charles Kim, president of Hanwha SolarOne. “Hanwha SolarOne is building the solar economy of the future with focused, strategic partnerships like this collaboration with Silent Power. It expands the Hanwha SolarOne’s portfolio of product offerings and builds upon our goal to be the most innovative, flexible and reliable partner for our customers.”
The ability to store energy for later use enhances the value of solar PV by stabilizing intermittent solar energy generation and reducing peak demand loads across the grid. Energy production from solar PV peaks during prime sunlight hours, typically from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and does not always align with the peak demand for energy. By storing excess energy produced during times of peak production, the energy can be saved for later use. The stored energy can be used locally by the owner of the system, or can be used by the local utility company to provide power to the electric grid during times of peak demand. The OnDemand Energy Appliance can also provide backup power to the owner during grid outages.
“Bundling the innovative OnDemand Energy Appliance with high quality solar PV panels from Hanwha SolarOne will offer a valuable distributed power system to consumers looking for a renewable energy solution,” said Todd Headlee, chief executive officer of Silent Power. “The global strategic partnership with a market leader like Hanwha SolarOne will help accelerate greater commercial deployment of Silent Power’s energy storage technology.”
Silent Power is working with more than a dozen utilities across the United States on energy storage projects. For more information, please visit http://www.silentpwr.com.
Learn more in a press release and a recent story in the Brainerd Daily Dispatch.
They’re not afraid to have a little fun, either. See the video below featuring Silent Power CEO, Todd Headlee.
About the video: Todd Headlee, or Storage Man, is the CEO of Silent Power, Inc. out of Brainerd, MN where they combine energy storage systems with their own inverter technology to ensure that homeowners and businesses have power when they need it most, and to allow utilities to better manage their peak demands! Learn more on their website and in another video alongside other energy entrepreneurs at the CERTs 2011 Conference. Clean Energy Superheroes are seemingly ordinary people doing amazing things to help build our clean energy future! Watch more heroes and suggest folks CERTs should feature at http://hero.mncerts.org.
