Encouragement to decarbonize our economies through electrification and clean energy continues to generate momentum about battery technologies, as storage has a key role to enable green transition. While renews are pure energy sources compared to burnt fossil fuels, their energy production is not always stable. In the case of the sun – which has seen a massive increase in dislocations in recent years – after the sun stops shining in photovoltaic cells, the generation of electricity is turned off.
One solution for regulating the variability of solar plants is to conserve energy when there is a glut (during the day hours). In this way, preserved power can be made available in other cases, including to serve the highest demand periods – which are also, usually, later during the day when there is less sun around.
Moonwatt, a pure technology startup founded in September last year in the Netherlands, is working on a battery-based power storage system that is co-set with it, and optimized for solar power plants to help them manage this variability. The team designed the dedicated hardware hardware, inverter power electronics to connect to the network and the program needed to integrate and manage the storage system.
The beginning says its access will enable solar plants to increase their revenue by being able to sell more solar energy (including when the price of energy is more attractive) and lower costs to the plant level because the design relates some of the electrical infrastructure. Target solar plants are those that produce at least a few hundred kilowatts of energy – so essentially everything other than photovoltaic housing.
In particular, the Moonwatt system is being built around sodium-ion cells for batteries that will conserve solar energy. Technology offers an attractive alternative to lithium-ion as production relies on the cheapest (and easiest to source) raw materials, helping to maintain costs.
While sodium-ion batteries may have size and weight challenges due to lower density than lithium-ion cells-making some difficult applications (such as mobility/EV, where weight is an important consideration)-Technology has gained attraction as an opportunity to maintain lower costs, where conditions are more favorable. space to install the set.
Taking more juice from PV
The Moonwatt field for solar power plants is that their power conservation system allows them to increase their capacity factor by up to 80%. The plants they buy inside will be able to double their inner rate of return (IRR), also suggest.
“Basically, what we allow our partner to do is double their return,” says co -founder and leading trade officer, Valentin Rota, for Techcrunch. “So in the AAA country (credit rating), I would say an average PV (photovoltaic) asset is about, let’s say 8% to 12% return -r-and we will bring the asset to about 20%.”
The founding trio of starting – along with CEO Zukui Hu and Cto Guillaume Mancini – met while working on Tech batteries for Tesla almost a decade ago. They have continued to work together since then in different employers and through different projects, including gaining experience in small -scale solar storage, off -network.
“We started seeing this request first starting from what we call micro networks, so usually a small network resistant generator,” Rota confesses. “But as the cost of batteries came down and the cost of storage actually descended those applications began to reach larger places on larger networks, and is really directed at the underlying sun.”
The founders had also worked together on the Freyr battery manufacturer (from re -evaled as you Energy). And after they saw that the costs moving in the right direction Rota says the spark for setting moonwatt – called for an energetic game in ‘moonshot’, we assume – they were realizing that they could combine their knowledge of batteries and apply battery technologies to strengthen solar storage profits.
“We realized that this demand – solar conservation – is the backbone of the next world energy network, but there is still no product dedicated to it,” he says. “So this is what is about moonwatt: it is about making the first product of storing solar batteries.”
While the volume of solar energy that is produced globally continues to increase the starting bet is that the industry will begin to require dedicated storage than to do with a “cookie cutter” product.
Moonwatt’s “big differences” for Rota include the use of sodium battery technology-which he says offers better scaling, cost reduction and lowering of carbon than lithium-ion.
The design of their storage system also uses a scattered architecture (rather than centralized), making it easier for plants to integrate as he says. He also says that the approach they are taking allows for greater efficiency and a decrease in the cost of electricity sent thanks to the storage connection much closer to the panels that are in peak production.
“Our comprehensive goal, using these three traits, is to reduce the cost of electricity of these solar plants sent,” he adds.
Seed financing to violate gas
While it is still early for this (only) month of business and its prototype product, Moonwatt has now closed an € 8 million (about $ 8.3 million exchange rates) to violate gas and get their market storage technology-starting with a pilot installation planning for next year. They then expect to be able to make their first trade placements in 2027.
The seed of the seed is led by Daphni and Lea Partners, with participation by Future founders, Afi Ventures and Kima Ventures, along with strategic business angels and clients.
Commenting on a supporting statement, Paul Bazin, a partner in Daphni, suggests that Moonwatt’s approach is “the progress that the industry is missing”.
“Increasing renewable energy has exceeded all expectations, but we are approaching a staggering point where it will not be able to escalate further without better energy storage,” he said. “Created by industry veterans, Moonwatt is solving this with a differentiated solar -built storage product.”
“We greatly nourish an ambition to be a Gigawatt-Hour player, a large-scale player because we want to make an influence,” Rota also tells us. “And with the scale comes the costs. And we know that in this industry is a business run from the bottom line, so we have to be at competitive cost.”
Rota says the decision to focus on solar energy comes down to attractive economy and already widespread this type of renewable energy.
“The sun is interesting because it is – at a cost per hour megawatt – very competitive and getting more,” he notes. “But it is also that the sun is a little more ubiquitous. It is setting in more than 120 seats a year already.”
Optimizing only for solar means that the beginning can fully focus on making design choices that are intended to help plants benefit as much as possible from their asset, including when it comes to shrinking the costs of connecting their energy to the network.
“Looking forward, the way to reduce (solar energy) costs is by reducing the overall balance of plant costs. So you need to reduce the number of transformer cables, etc. And the way you do is lead you to the sun and storage, not to the middle voltage level, but actually at the low voltage -“
“In doing so, they share the same electrical infrastructure to connect to the network. And if we extend the look for more as a country level, this optimization of using network capacity is also something we will have to do. Because today, a single solar plant uses its network capacity only about 20% of the time, but when adding storage behind the meter, you can really shift the use of the surrounding energy in order to use a more efficient use of this network capacity. “
The starting business in question also has to do with the help of solar plants to pass developers with a fee food – “almost” – becoming energy traders with a flexible wealth, he adds.
