The Japanese trading company has begun selling its new Smart Star L lithium-ion energy storage battery system for the Japanese residential photovoltaic market.
The company designed the system in cooperation with Yokohama-based manufacturer NF. Its new Smart Star L energy storage system has a rated capacity of 9.8 kWh, which ITOCHU claims is sufficient to provide 24 hours of electricity for a family. The device weighs about 195 kg and is designed for outdoor installation. It is currently available for purchase in Japan at a price of 2.85 million yen (US$25,575) each, excluding tax and installation costs.
The Smart Star L solution can also be used as a temporary backup power source for households in emergency situations. This is also a major selling point of similar systems after the power outage caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in March 2011. Therefore, the system can continue to provide enough power to operate 200-volt appliances such as air conditioners during a power outage.
ITOCHU said in an online statement: “In the future, the use of solar energy as a renewable energy source will become more popular around the world. In Japan, as the feed-in tariff plan period for residential solar power generation systems will expire in 2019, the savings Energy systems will also become more and more important for self-use power generation in Japan."
The company said it is also studying the possibility of using its energy storage battery technology to enter virtual power plants in Japan's emerging markets. In this case, distributed energy sources such as small photovoltaic arrays are gathered and controlled to function as a single power source.
ITOCHU has been selling energy storage solutions for several years. In early 2015, it signed an agreement to distribute energy storage solutions from California-based Green Charge Networks globally.
ITOCHU Corporation has agreed to handle the global distribution of Green Charge Networks' smart energy storage solutions.
The two companies announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday, which will enable Japan's third-largest trading company to distribute, supply, and source Green Charge Networks storage solutions worldwide.
The transaction will enable California-based Green Charge to expand its business scope to new markets in Japan and other international regions. The company specializes in providing smart energy storage for commercial and industrial companies.
The Tokyo-based company is also developing its own utility-scale photovoltaic projects in Japan. Recently, it completed a 37 MW solar array in western Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Currently, the company is developing 130 megawatts of solar capacity nationwide, with the goal of expanding its pipeline to 200 megawatts.
