Eguana Technologies recruits new executives

From pv magazine global

Canadian battery storage manufacturer Eguana Technologies Inc. has appointed the former Mercedes-Benz Energy executive Marcus Brunner as Chief Sales Officer.

Eguana CEO Justin Holland, said: “Mr. Brunner, the former Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Mercedes-Benz Energy, has an extensive history of sales and marketing execution, including Mercedes-Benz, General Electric, Zumtobel and Avnet Technologies. Under his leadership we expect to accelerate growth in all global markets.”

At the recent AllEnergy exhibition in Melbourne, Australia, pv magazine interviewed Mr. Holland about the Calgary-based company’s solutions and global expansion plans.

In the U.S. and Australia, Eguana’s key product is the Evolve Residential Energy Storage System, which starts at 13 kWh battery capacity and runs in modular fashion to 39 kWh. Eguana’s AC-coupled topology is designed for compatibility with any solar PV string or micro inverter. LG Chem’s battery modules with integrated battery management system warrant a 19.2 MWh energy throughput per 6.5 kWh module.

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According to Mr. Holland, Eguana’s has several attractions for buyers: “We have a number of stackable values that the other products don’t have,” he said. “One of the reasons we have so much value-add is because our product was originally designed for the aggregation markets. We thought the U.S. – which is our home market – would go into aggregation very quickly, being led by some of the utilities, so we built the full suite of grid services into the product: frequency regulation, voltage control, aggregation for spinning reserve etc. A lot of the other products only support backup power and self-consumption, but we had those features already built in. So that’s some of the value that we bring as the market gets more sophisticated.”

Another advantage is the fact Eguana’s proprietary power controls can handle battery module scale-up without the need to purchase additional power control functionality. For example, the Evolve system can go from 13 to 39 kWh without the need for the customer to make further investment on the power control front. Instead the customer pays only for the additional LG Chem battery modules.

In addition to Mr. Brunner, Eguana is bringing in another Mercedes-Benz Energy executive to lead European sales. Dr. Andreas Rueckemann will serve as Director of Sales Europe after heading European sales in his previous role.

In Europe, Eguana’s residential solution is the Enduro product, which starts at 6.5 kWh and offers the same attractions as the Evolve. Eguana also confirmed that its “three-phase commercial system, Elevate, will be certified for European and Australian markets” and expects roll-out to begin in the spring.

The new boardroom additions mark a coup to bolster Eguana’s global team and drive further growth. With manufacturing facilities in Europe and North America, and two decades of experience delivering grid edge power electronics for fuel cell, PV and battery applications, Eguana should gain even more traction and visibility.