On 4th April 2024, SolarEdge Technologies Inc. announced that it had completed the acquisition of the entire share capital of Wevo Energy Ltd. Wevo is a software startup specializing in EV charging optimization and management for sites with large quantities of EV chargers such as apartment buildings, workplace car parks, and public charging locations.
SolarEdge, renowned in the industry for its solar inverter solutions is a leader in smart energy technology. Wevo’s software is designed to be vendor agnostic and supports industry leading open protocols, enabling multi-user pricing and billing, tiered prioritization of charging schedules, predictive load management, and a range of additional services. To date, Wevo has electrified many thousands of parking spaces across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Wevo is already integrated with SolarEdge’s EV chargers, solar inverters, and meters, for a holistic real-time view of solar production, grid consumption, and EV charging.
The Wevo solution will also be part of the SolarEdge ONE energy optimization system for the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) segment, designed to offer SolarEdge customers a single energy optimization solution that orchestrates and integrates between on-site solar generation, battery storage, and large-scale EV charging.
This is an interesting move by SolarEdge and one that allows it to both diversify its solution range and capitalize on integrating its existing portfolio with new functionality. The combination of EV charging and solar generation has been demonstrated at several deployments including dedicated EV charging hubs/forecourts operated by companies such as Shell and Gridserve. Adding storage is an obvious benefit to maximize the usage of renewable energy generation, support the grid at peak times and minimize the requirement of grid supply at an EV charging station or site.
The overlay of an intelligent management solution creates the potential for greater optimization and control. Being able to intelligently switch between power systems based on grid load, EV system, EV capacity, energy storage solution capacity at the time of charge, or the rate of energy production from connected renewable systems could be critical in not only balancing grid demand but also enhancing the overall consumer experience at the EV charger.
Whilst this will have clear benefits for an end-to-end commercial/industrial energy generation/storage system with EV chargers connected, I can’t help but wonder if this innovation will find its way into residential renewable and ESS solutions, particularly as home EV charger deployment accelerates. A solution of this nature could certainly disrupt that space!
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The original article is here.
