SOLAR+STORAGE, ENERGY
Globenewswire | May 11, 2023
Polar Power Inc. a global provider of prime, backup and solar hybrid DC power solutions, announced it is now taking advance orders for its new line of mobile Combined Charging System (“CCS”) Electric Vehicle (“EV”) chargers, which are expected to be available before the end of the first quarter of 2024. Mobile EV chargers are used for emergency roadside service providing a fast-charging solution for EVs that have run out of charge before reaching a stationary charging facility. The goal is not to fully charge the vehicle but place a sufficient charge allowing the vehicle to proceed to the nearest charging station; this being analogous to the can of gasoline provided to stranded motorists.
Polar is currently upgrading its mobile CHAdeMO EV chargers to the universal CCS standard to meet the larger market opportunity. Because of the supply chain shortages and long delivery of engines and electronics, Polar is taking orders for shipments starting in the first quarter of 2024.
Since 2011 Polar has sold its CHAdeMO chargers to most of the major U.S. automakers for fast charging their EVs during field testing. The performance advantage Polar provided to mobile EV charging was a significant reduction in the charging system's size, weight, fuel consumption (for both the charger and vehicle transporting the charger), and system cost. Using the Polar system, a complete charging system can be deployed on the back of a small pickup truck relative to alternative solutions requiring a large trailer towed by a truck or tractor/trailer. The Polar mobile EV charger technology is DC based and is less than half the weight and size of an AC generator coupled to an AC to DC charger.
The other alternate solution to an EV running out of power on the road is a flatbed truck to transport the vehicle to the nearest charging station. This is a cumbersome solution requiring a considerable time to load the EV, transport it, and unload it at the charging station. In aggregate, this can take hours and to exacerbate the situation, in many cities, there is a long wait for flatbed truck availability. Using a mobile EV charger allows a small van or pickup truck to perform a 15-to-30-minute charge (about the same time required to only load the vehicle on to the flatbed truck) allowing the motorist to drive to a charging station, which is a substantially more elegant and cost-effective solution. In fact, the Polar EV chargers are small enough to be installed on tow trucks / wreckers or on a small pickup or van. Polar expects this will substantially accelerate the establishments of fleets to serve the fast-growing EV market.
The first sizes to ship will be 15 kW and 30 kW using either propane, natural gas, or diesel. Polar's next generation of DC alternators, its 9000 series, is in test with 50 kW charging output. These chargers are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2024.
Mr. Arthur D. Sams, CEO of the Company, comments, "There is a large number of gas stations in our cities and highways with short lines where it takes only minutes to refuel yet there are still a substantial number of drivers that run out of fuel," said Polar Power CEO Arthur Sams. "I am intimately familiar with the challenges as an EV owner myself for the past 8 years and I know that keeping a charge in your vehicle requires an extra effort. There have been many times that I arrived at the charging station with less than 5 miles of charge remaining in the vehicle and I expect this is a familiar comment from many EV owners".
"One factor causing EVs to run out of charge is commonly referred to as phantom discharge or vampire drain; EV owners can experience continued battery discharge while the vehicle is parked. My EV loses up to 10 miles a day while my car is parked at the airport, so I must make sure there is sufficient charge to manage the time away from the vehicle and the charge needed to get home. The factors causing phantom discharge vary from EV to EV, including preconditioning and temperature regulation of the battery and cabin interior, security cameras, charging the onboard 12 Vdc battery, and miscellaneous apps. As soon as I figure out the setting to reduce my phantom discharges, a software update comes along and seems to switch them on again. In addition to the EV owners’ needs for mobile charging there are the needs of EV manufacturers, transportation logistics, and dealer sales lots. When the automotive manufacturing plant ships an EV there can be problems with dead batteries due to long storage and transportation time, mobile chargers are needed at the docks, storage yards, and the dealerships. Fleet vehicle operators need mobile chargers to maintain and service their fleet.
Mr. Sams concluded, "Many EV owners are burdened with range anxiety, and we can provide a cost-effective and easily accessible solution to give owners greater comfort through emergency on-road charging solutions using our power technology platform. The incumbent solution frequently leads to bad experiences for EV owners who have faced very long waits for a flatbed truck to haul their EV to a charging station, keeping in mind that most EVs are not even towable with standard tow trucks. Overall, we see this as a substantial market opportunity for us by providing the enabling technology to solve this real-world problem that will only become more prevalent with the proliferation of EVs.
We believe supplying each city in the USA with just one mobile EV charger represents a huge market potential."
About Polar Power, Inc.
Gardena, California-based Polar Power, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells direct current, or DC, power systems, lithium battery powered hybrid solar systems for applications in the telecommunications market and, in other markets, including military, electric vehicle charging, cogeneration, distributed power, and uninterruptable power supply. Within the telecommunications market, Polar's systems provide reliable and low-cost energy for applications for off-grid and bad-grid applications with critical power needs that cannot be without power in the event of utility grid failure.
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ENERGY, INDUSTRY UPDATES
Businesswire | May 10, 2023
Apex Clean Energy and Powin LLC a global energy storage platform provider, announced two new battery storage projects in Texas. Apex developed and will construct, own, and operate the projects; Powin is providing its Centipede™ Platform and StackOS™ battery management system.
Angelo Storage, co-located with the 195 MW Angelo Solar Project, and Great Kiskadee Storage will each deliver 100MW/200 MWh of capacity to the Texas grid with a 2-hour battery duration. The battery systems will use Powin’s StackOS platform to provide energy arbitrage and ancillary grid services to the ERCOT market, which are critical for maintaining grid reliability. The storage systems will absorb excess solar or wind generation when demand is low and discharge when energy usage is high, ensuring adequate power supply while allowing the grid to operate more efficiently and flexibly.
“As Texas experiences more extreme weather conditions in both summer and winter months, there’s a growing need for cleaner and more reliable energy,” said Geoff Brown, CEO of Powin. “With visibility and control down to the battery cell level, our platform can respond to changing grid conditions in real-time. As these new storage projects are deployed, ERCOT customers in the region will have the assurance of a climate-resilient grid backed by Powin’s technology.”
“Texas already leads the nation in operating wind and solar capacity; adding battery storage will support ERCOT with grid reliability, encouraging additional renewable development in the Lone Star State,” said Mark Goodwin, president and CEO of Apex. “Battery storage is a crucial component of our nation’s energy transition, and Apex is investing accordingly, with 11.6 GW of utility-scale storage in our development portfolio—gigawatts of clean energy potential that is only realized alongside experienced partners like Powin.”
Together, the projects will generate more than $24.4 million in tax revenue and approximately 100 jobs during construction. The Angelo and Great Kiskadee storage projects are expected to begin commercial operations in late 2023 and 2024.
About Powin, LLC
At Powin, we are advancing the next frontier of energy and changing the way we power our daily lives by ensuring access to clean, resilient, and affordable power. As a global energy platform provider, we offer fully integrated battery storage solutions, software, and services to optimize grid performance and enable the transition to cleaner energy sources. Powin has over 6,000 MWh of energy storage systems that have been deployed or are under construction with an additional 11,000 MWh in contracting worldwide.
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ENERGY, INDUSTRY UPDATES
Globenewswire | April 28, 2023
Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. and Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. and Brookfield Renewable announced a strategic partnership to introduce an innovative Charging-as-a-Service (“CaaS”) solution for electric vehicle (“EV”) charging infrastructure. This new product offering eliminates large up-front payments and enables streamlined deployment of charging networks for fleets, retail, multi-unit dwellings, and other large commercial properties.
Currently, EV charging infrastructure requires a large up-front capital investment in charging equipment, electrical infrastructure, and installation. Moreover, traditional installation of EV charging infrastructure with trenching results in months of disruption to site operations and can face significant technical and regulatory hurdles. These challenges have been a barrier to the deployment of EV charging at scale.
Shoals and Brookfield are partnering to introduce a breakthrough CaaS solution to address these issues. Building on previous collaborations between Shoals and Brookfield, this strategic partnership brings together Brookfield’s global scale as one of the largest fully integrated providers of distributed energy and renewable power solutions with Shoals’ industry-leading Fuel by Shoals® product offering, an above-ground EV charging infrastructure solution that reduces installation time and labor requirements while offering charger flexibility. Together, Shoals and Brookfield provide significant commercial, technical, and financing expertise to deliver full-service, end-to-end solutions for customers.
The CaaS solution will focus on C&I and public sector customers, EV solution providers, vehicle manufacturers, fleet operators, and other industry participants, to provide turnkey EV charging solutions with minimal cost and impact to customers. Subscribers will pay a monthly subscription fee over a fixed time period instead of paying costs upfront, freeing up capital for other core priorities. Additionally, the CaaS solution is technology-agnostic with respect to EV charger original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), and customers will have flexibility to choose EV chargers from various manufacturers that will best fit their needs across their real estate portfolios.
Customers will also have the option to include solar, battery energy storage, and other distributed energy products, drawing from Brookfield’s deep capabilities as a developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy assets. With the depth of our combined offering, each project will have a custom-tailored solution for each customer.
“This collaboration will lower the barrier of entry to the EV charging space by making infrastructure deployments less costly and more efficient,” said Jeff Tolnar, President of Shoals Technologies. “Coupling Brookfield’s financing and operating expertise with Shoals’ leadership in charging infrastructure, our combined CaaS offering will provide a solution for charge point operators looking to replace the necessary up-front capital investments with payments over time, while enabling faster EV charging deployment with minimal site disruption. We look forward to welcoming other EV charger OEMs, O&M, and EPC counterparties into our ecosystem.”
“Brookfield prides itself on partnering with companies like Shoals, a driving force behind the transition to renewable energy and clean electrification,” said Valerie Hannah, Managing Director at Brookfield Asset Management. “Our new collaborative solution is poised to be a game-changer and will accelerate EV charging infrastructure and clean energy deployments across the US, with Brookfield providing all capital needed to fund these projects.”
About Shoals Technologies Group, Inc.
Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. is a leading provider of electrical balance of system solutions and components for solar, battery storage and electric vehicle charging applications, selling to customers across the United States and internationally. Since its founding in 1996, the Company has introduced innovative technologies and systems solutions that allow its customers to substantially increase installation efficiency and safety while improving system performance and reliability. Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. is a recognized leader in the renewable energy industry whose solutions are deployed on over 20 GW of solar systems globally.
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