LG Chem receives award for energy storage tech

LG Chem ESS product planning division chief Shin Young-joon with executives at the InterSolar exhibition in Munich, Germany last week, after LG’s latest energy storage technology won honors there. / Courtesy of LG Chem

By Kim Yoo-chul

LG Chem, the world’s top battery supplier, said Sunday its latest energy saving technology for use in households received an award in a technology fair, Munich, Germany, last week.

“LG’s New RESU-branded energy storage system (ESS) received an award in the InterSolar 2016 technology fair held in the German city of Munich, last year. LG Chem is the first Korean company to win a prize in the ESS segment in an international tech exhibition,” LG Chem said in a release.

C. S. Song, head of LG Chem’s public relations office, said the award was thanks to the RESU ESS’s improvements in enhancing energy density, reducing costs and cutting weight.

The New RESU applied an inverter-connection technology, helping consumers save time during installation.

For greater compatibility, LG Chem teamed up with SolarEdge Technologies to benefit from compatibility of SolarEdge’s StorEdge solutions with LG Chem’s new high-voltage RESU lithium-ion batteries, which will be beneficial both in extending their offering of cost-effective and integrated energy generation, storage and consumption.

The home ESS product will be available for five models from 3.3 kilowatt hour (kWh) energy capacity to 9.8 kWh. As the latest RESU is expandable using different models, its energy capacity will be enlarged up to 19.6 kWh, said the company.

Another updated feature is that the new RESU’s battery management system will be easily upgraded via an SD card, making them efficient in management.

Song said the achievement will help LG Chem expand its share in the ESS market in its target markets such as Germany and Australia.

Navigant Research, a market research firm, expects the demand for the household ESS market to grow 12 trillion won by 2024 from this year’s estimated 730 billion won, with average annual growth reaching over 44 percent during the period.