It’s hard enough convincing investors to trust advanced battery technology when it’s the increasingly recognizable lithium-ion variety. New Jersey-based battery startup Eos has a different challenge: pitching a technology few have heard of,* because the company was the first to invent it.
Its major tool in overcoming that challenge is price. Eos team members say they are already selling their system at $160 per kilowatt-hour for high-volume orders. That’s the DC system cost, so it doesn’t include inverters or installation, but it trounces the advanced battery competition and has raised many an eyebrow in the industry.
A mind-blowing price captures customers’ attention, but doesn’t necessarily secure their trust. Eos has created a new energy storage technology the company calls zinc hybrid cathode. To build confidence in the product, the company has turned to established, recognizable companies to get the product to customers. Eos announced two of these in the week leading up to the DistribuTech Conference in San Diego.
The 165-year-old technology powerhouse Siemens will work with Eos to deploy the batteries, adding power conversion for the DC systems as well as project development expertise. Those Eos installations will benefit from the gravitas of the Siemens name, although the warranty is still Eos’ responsibility. Siemens is not yet putting its balance sheet behind the guaranteed performance warranty for the AC system.**
Eos has also forged a power conversion and project development partnership with Northern Power Systems, an energy company specializing in wind power that has more than four decades of experience under its belt.
These two companies are now members of the Aegis program, Eos’ network of integrators. By leveraging the expertise and name recognition at the Aegis partners, Eos can punch above the weight of a small battery startup.
Eos Finds a Partner in Siemens to Scale an Unusual Battery
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