Sunverge unveils inverters to help Hawaii Electric solar+storage technology

Dive Brief:

Sunverge Energy has unveiled inverters designed to meet Hawaii Electric Companies' (HECO) strict technical specifications for solar installations.
Sunverge says its Solar Integration System (SIS) will help HECO customers rapidly attain reliable power from their solar + storage systems while earning maximum savings under HECO's proposed time-of-use rates.
Sunverge claims customer who pair rooftop solar with its storage system can save up to 80% on monthly power bills.

Dive Insight:

HECO is dealing with the challenges of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2045, and energy storage is playing a key role in that transition.

Hawaii’s largest solar array, a 12-MW facility by REC Solar on Kauai, is paired with a 6-MW battery storage system. And last October SolarCity won the bidding to build what has been called Kauai’s first fully dispatchable solar farm, a 13-MW array that will charge a 13-MW, 52-MWh battery system.

Storage is also being paired with solar behind-the-meter.

Sunverge says its SIS system, equipped with Schneider XW6848 and XW5548 inverters, will allow customers to capture the power they generate and use it when demand and energy prices are highest.

Such systems are likely to have a growing appeal to residential customers now that Hawaii has ended its retail rate net metering program.

With some of the highest electric rates in the nation, time-of-use rates will make Sunverge's cost-saving technology even more valuable to Hawaiian consumers. In addition, the company said its SIS systems are key to taking advantage of Hawaii's newly implemented Customer Self Supply tariff. The self supply tariff allows a limited amount of inadvertent energy exported to the grid without any compensation and a minimum bill of $25 for residential customers, and $50 for small commercial customers.

Sunverge estimates that customers that use its solar + storage system can save up to 80% on monthly power bills.

“Such intelligent energy storage will play a vital role in our goal to generate 100% of Hawaii's energy from renewable sources,” Chris Reynolds, system operations manager at Maui Electric, a HECO subsidiary, said in a statement.