US energy storage developer Aquion Energy is to provide a 1MWh battery as part of a private off-grid solar PV microgrid at the Kona coast on the Island of Hawaii.
The Aquion Energy’s Aqueous Hybrid Ion (AHI) battery will be the world’s biggest privately owned battery and connected to a 176 kW solar PV array. The system is designed to generate 350MWh per year. The application will be installed at private residential estate Bakken Hale.
The energy storage chemistry in the AHI battery uses an
electrochemical couple that combines a high-capacity carbon anode with a sodium intercalation cathode capable of thousands of deep discharge cycles over extended periods of time, according to Pittsburgh-headquartered Aquion.
The battery system can serve stand-alone or as building block for larger systems.
“I want to demonstrate that using a solar and battery-powered microgrid is our best solution now. This installation will enable us to meet our around-the-clock power needs with solar generation and will reduce our fossil fuel usage by 97%,” said Earl Bakken, founder of medical device firm Medtronic and owner of Bakken Hale.
Ted Wiley, vice president of product and corporate strategy for Aquion said, the company is working with local distributors in every utility jurisdiction in Hawaii right now to look for smaller-scale battery-solar opportunities, too.
