US-based solar-plus-storage specialist Sunnova Energy and Japanese sogo sasha (general trading company) Itochu have entered a business alliance “to promote the service and capabilities of solar plus storage solutions in the United States.” Under the agreement, Itochu has made an (undisclosed) equity investment in Sunnova.
The two companies have indicated intentions to evaluate “GrideShare Client”— the AI software of UK-based residential energy storage firm Moixa— for use in Sunnova’s solar-plus-storage systems.
Moixa has been exporting its GridShare platform to Itochu since early 2018, when the two firms entered a partnership agreement of their own. GridShare has been standard on Itochu’s Smart Star home battery systems since Summer 2018.
Sunnova, the “leading privately-held US residential solar + battery storage provider”, has served nearly 60,000 customers across the US and its territories since its foundation in 2012, in part due to their 25-year service commitment with every system. In Japan, Itochu has developed and commercialised its own solar-plus-storage brand, Smart Star, in collaboration with NF Corporation.
“Sunnova’s goal is to provide customers the choice of affordable, clean solar plus storage technology that generated long-term valuable energy service for consumers”, commented Sunnova CEO William Berger.
“Together we will be able to positively impact and drive forward the growing global solar plus storage marketplace”, added Koji Hasegawa, GM of Itochu’s Industrial Chemicals Department.