For the U.S. market, SolarWorld has announced a cooperation with the storage system supplier sonnen. The partners want to give U.S. customers a storage option as part of complete energy-management systems.

SolarWorld’s partner sonnen Inc. has officially opened a headquarters in Los Angeles. The company provides a fully integrated energy-storage system for customers of PetersenDean, a U.S. residential roofing company and a strategic partner of SolarWorld. “Solar has seen tremendous growth over the past decade in the U.S. market, and all signs point to continued growth,” said Ardes Johnson, SolarWorld’s U.S. Vice President for Sales and Marketing. “Energy storage stands at the beginning stages of adoption, and with companies like sonnen driving technology, we see this market achieving a similar growth trajectory as solar. SolarWorld’s goal is to apply our industry-leading experience in bringing new technologies and innovative solutions to our partner network.”

sonnen designs and manufactures residential and commercial systems to be used in backup or stand-alone applications. The systems provide such features as remote energy management, peak-shaving, full-home backup, smart-home integration and grid-services features. “We are focused on the growth of clean, reliable and affordable energy for all. Our partnership with SolarWorld to offer an integrated solar-plus-storage product to PetersenDean customers nationwide is an important step in realizing this goal,” said Boris von Bormann, U.S. CEO of sonnen. Erin Clark, President of PetersenDean’s solar division, said sonnenBatteries fit well within the company’s Solar4America campaign, which taps American products and labour in spreading solar across the nation’s rooftops. “They’re right in our swim lane,” Clark said.

Ralf Ossenbrink / SolarWorld