One of the newest contenders in Australia’s residential battery storage market, Soluna Au, has made its first sales of domestic single and three-phase systems to homes in Perth, Western Australia.
Soluna – a 50/50 joint venture between ASX-listed lithium recycling, extraction and processing outfit Lithium Australia and DLG Group, one of China’s 10-largest producers of lithium-ion cells – unveiled plans to sell its battery systems in Australia in December last year.
The li-ion Soluna Power Bank batteries – including a 9.2kWh, a 3kWh and a 6kWh model – were then added to the Clean Energy Council’s list of approved lithium-based storage devices in June, a key industry standard for new energy storage products in Australia.
In an ASX statement, Lithium Australia said the installation of the Soluna residential energy-storage systems had gone ahead in the northern and southern suburbs of Perth, last week.
The battery company noted that Western Australia’s high rooftop solar uptake, and its plan to introduce tariffs to encourage storing excess solar and decrease the amount of solar exported to the grid at times of low demand – were creating the ideal environment for battery uptake.
“These new tariffs are a strong incentive to consumers who produce solar energy to store that energy in either their own or DNSP-owned battery energy-storage systems,” Lithium Australia said.
The company notes that the Soluna battery systems also offer complete blackout protection, an important feature for homes in regional and bush-fire prone areas and one that is lacking in many competing products.
Lithium Australia managing director Adrian Griffin added that on top of reducing electricity costs, environmental footprints and power bills, Soluna also offered a sustainable end-of-life plan for their batteries.
“Lithium Australia can assure you, the client, that at end-of-life, your Soluna energy storage system can be recycled. This sustainability initiative is provided through our subsidiary, Envirostream Australia – the only mixed battery recycler in Australasia,” he said.
As One Step reported here, Lithium Australia and DLG Group have also flagged plans to focus on creating innovative energy storage solutions for remote-site and mining applications.
They are also reportedly evaluating the feasibility of manufacturing battery packs in Australia, on top of the battery recycling solutions through Lithium Australia’s already established business.
On that front, the companies will work together to further develop the production of proprietary cathode powders by VSPC Ltd – a 100%-owned subsidiary of Lithium Australia – for use in DLG batteries.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
