Integrated US photovoltaic energy company SunPower’s solar panels will be sold as part of a package that includes energy management software and energy storage capabilities to residential customers in the US and Australia from early next year.
SunPower has partnered with fellow North American company, Sunverge, which produces Solar Integration System (SIS), a distributed energy management system that combines solar and energy storage with smart controls. In common with other cloud-based energy management software, the platform can be controlled by the homeowner using tablets, smartphones and home computers. According to Sunverge chief executive officer Ken Munson, this means the ability to manage the separate components as a “fleet to enhance the long-term value of their energy investments”.
In announcing the link-up, SunPower said the two companies would start their commercial offering “in early 2015”, beginning with residential customers and their utilities in the US and “providing a similar offering” to customers in Australia. Financial details, specific timelines and regions for launch have not been revealed.
Also this week, SunPower announced that it will invest US$20 million of growth capital into Tendril, Inc, a company which makes a smart energy software platform called Energy Services Management (ESM), which is also designed to give customers more flexibility over their electricity supply and usage.
The full version of this story can be viewed at the PV Tech Storage site.
