Sonnen earns Australian Made label

German battery manufacturer Sonnen has received two industry accreditations as a South Australian manufacturer, including the well-known Australian Made badge and recognition from the Office of the Industry Advocate as a manufacturer of South Australian products.

The sonnenBatterie eco 9.53 hybrid battery was given approval as Australian Made by meeting the criteria set out in the Australian Consumer Law and the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) Code of Practice.

The milestone comes almost a year after the company took its battery technology to the factory floor at the old Holden factory in Elizabeth. The facility was built to scale for the production and export of batteries to the Asia Pacific region and has the potential to produce 12,000 batteries per year. In the past 12 months, sonnen has produced 2,000 batteries locally and installed over 500 sonnenBatteries under the SA Home Battery Scheme.

Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan welcomed the news that sonnen had received highly regarded industry credentials as a South Australian manufacturer, bolstering the local industry and creating new jobs for people in our state.

“Home batteries are gaining momentum in South Australia as consumers are empowered to generate and store their own electricity, reducing their power bills,” said the minister. “The Home Battery Scheme is an Australian-first. Our reputation in clean energy transition has paved the way for international companies like sonnen to set up advanced battery manufacturing in our state.”

The German manufacturer confirmed it was setting up the Adelaide production facility a day after the South Australian government launched it landmark $100 million  Home Battery Scheme. Sonnen was the first battery manufacturer to join the program which offers subsidies to SA households of up to $6,000 scaled in line with the size of the system being installed. It was followed by China-headquartered Alpha-ESS and Canada’s Eguana Technologies, both of which unveiled plans to set up manufacturing facilities in Adelaide to tap the state’s booming market.

In a recent interview with pv magazine Australia, sonnen CEO of APAC Nathan Dunn commented on the manufacturer’s experience with the home battery subsidy schemes in Australia and what it takes for a successful program. Following the announcement on Friday, Dunn said that home owners are increasingly aware of the benefits of home batteries in reducing their bills and being able to rely on the solar energy they have generated during the day.

“As we continue to identify new markets in Asia with export potential for certified Australian Made sonnenBatteries, sonnen will look to increase the manufacturing of our home batteries,” he said.

The Sonnen announcement closely follows the release of the long-awaited Australia’s first home battery installation standard. While milder than its predecessor flagged two years ago, the new regulation has been deemed as controversial due to excessive fire safety measures which are likely to make business and installation more complex for the battery storage sector.