Tindo Solar and sonnen team up for Victorian virtual power plant

Australian solar PV manufacturer Tindo Solar and battery maker sonnen will work together to make Tindo’s PV panels available to sonnen customers who sign up for the Solar Victoria Virtual Power Plant Pilot Program.

The VPP pilot provides a $4,174 rebate for the sale and installation of an approved battery, which is connected to a solar system when customers join the sonnenConnect approved VPP program.

Tindo manufactures PV panels at a new factory in Mawson Lakes in northern Adelaide, while German-owned sonnen manufactures household storage batteries at a facility nearby within the former Holden assembly plant at Elizabeth.

sonnen is headquartered in Wildpoldsried in the district of Oberallgäu, Germany, and began assembling batteries in Adelaide in 2018, receiving Australian Made certification a year later.

The VPP pilot, administered by Solar Victoria, will deliver Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) from Australia’s booming rooftop solar market, by joining many privately-owned solar-battery systems onto a single FCAS platform.

Tindo Solar CEO Shayne Jaenisch said: “sonnen has evolved their battery to include features that Australian households and business owners want in a home battery solution.

“The sonnenBatterie Evo has 10 kilowatt hours of storage.

It is a genuine outdoor battery that can handle the Australian climate, it has backup power should the grid power go down and it has a smart Battery Management System that means the owner can participate in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), saving themselves more money and helping to stabilise the grid.”

sonnenConnect customers will receive a monthly payment for their participation, along with a payment to the customer of 0.82 cents per day when their battery is available.
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National Field Sales Manager at sonnen Australia Tim Little said: “Besides helping (customers) to achieve greater energy independence, our collaboration with Tindo Solar means our customers can support Australian manufacturing by buying locally made solar panels.”

Picture: Tindo Solar/Adelaide plant

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