Japanese electronic giant Panasonic has forged an alliance with US company Power-One to develop and produce energy storage systems for residential and commercial markets.
Power-One is a California-based manufacturer of solar inverters and power conversion solutions.
The company confirmed it had entered into a strategic alliance with Panasonic to develop, produce and market energy storage systems. These systems will feature inverters from Power-One in addition to lithium-ion batteries and systems developed by Panasonic.
At the outset, the two companies will be looking to target both the residential and commercial grid-connected, utility scale energy storage systems business in Europe and the US, as well as the non-residential marketplace in Japan.
Panasonic and Power-One are also set to target the development of the commercial and utility solar photovoltaic inverter business in Japan.
Energy storage systems have the capacity to balance power demand and supply on electricity grids. According to Power-One, the size of the global market for energy storage systems will exceed US$11bn by 2020, with demand mainly coming from Europe, North America and Japan as a result of the adoption of renewable energy technology.
“Energy storage resources will greatly increase the adoption, use and sustainability of renewable energy systems throughout the world in homes, businesses and in large utility plants,” said Dr Alex Levran, president, Renewable Energy Solutions at Power-One.
He said that Panasonic’s strengths are around the development of products like its home energy management systems and lithium-ion battery cells.
“Combining Panasonic’s expertise in battery and battery storage with our advanced inverter technology should prove to be an unbeatable combination,” added Levran.
Solar panels on house image via Shutterstock
