Dive Brief:

• A unit of Exelon has made an investment in Qnovo, a provider of software designed to enhance battery performance.

• The investment, made through Constellation Technology Ventures (CTV), is part of Qnovo’s latest Series B financing. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

• Qnovo plans to leverage Exelon’s knowledge of the energy sector to expand the use of its software into battery based energy storage systems.

Dive Insight:

Utilities are waking up to the potential of distributed energy resources (DERs) with early stage investments in new companies in the DER space.

In May, Southern Co. completed the $425 million acquisition of PowerSecure International, a provider of distributed energy, utility infrastructure and efficiency solutions.

Exelon’s investment in Qnovo will give the power company a stake in a company with over five years of continuous testing records and a large in-house database of li-ion performance data.

“Battery storage technology is an increasingly viable component to support grid reliability and the growth of distributed renewable generation resources,” Michael Smith, vice president, generation innovation and strategy development at Exelon, said in a statement.

Exelon in April announced plans to double its storage capacity with a 10 MW project in Clinton County, Ohio. Exelon is partnering with Renewable Energy Systems on the project which will connect to the PJM Interconnection grid. Construction expected to be completed this fall.

Qnovo says its software has the potential to reduce the long-term cost of ownership for li-ion battery systems by boosting performance, enhancing reliability and extending battery lifespan.

With the investment, Constellation joins the ranks of existing Qnovo investors Sony, Intel Capital, Rockport Capital, US Venture Partners and BRV Lotus.

Qnovo says the Constellation investment will support is expansion into energy storage and sustainability markets. Qnovo’s adaptive charging and battery predictive analytics are currently deployed in next generation Sony Xperia smartphones.

“Qnovo’s core technology has shown to be immensely beneficial to consumer mobile devices,” Qnovo CEO Nadim Maluf said in a statement. "We continue to extend the performance of lithium-ion batteries, and look forward to working with Exelon to improve next generation clean energy storage systems."