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Mercedes-Benz Energy and Vivint Solar announced an exclusive strategic collaboration to bring the Mercedes-Benz customizable home energy storage system to the United States. The two companies will introduce a joint offering that will provide customers with the German engineering and performance of Mercedes-Benz batteries coupled with Vivint Solar's expertise in designing, installing and servicing solar energy systems.
For Vivint Solar, which has a proven track record of installing solar energy systems in more than 100,000 homes across the United States, this is the first collaboration to integrate batteries with its offering. This will also be Mercedes-Benz Energy's first collaboration with a U.S. solar provider, bringing its premium, high-performance, road-tested technology for home use to the residential battery market. These storage systems are made to Mercedes-Benz quality standards and based on the same automotive-grade battery technology used in its electric and hybrid vehicles.
"As Mercedes-Benz electrifies its vehicle fleet, solar plus storage is essential to enable those vehicles to be powered by clean energy," said Boris von Bormann, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Energy Americas, LLC. "With batteries featuring the best in automotive engineering from Mercedes-Benz, and high-quality solar energy systems from Vivint Solar, our solution allows customers to take the next step toward a sustainable energy future. The launch of our home battery system in Europe has been successful and we are thrilled to be working with Vivint Solar to bring a reliable and compelling solar plus storage offering to American homes."
With energy storage to complement rooftop solar, Vivint Solar customers will be able to have more control over the renewable energy they generate. In addition to providing a backup power source if the grid goes down, the new combined solution may help customers reduce energy costs. For instance, in areas with time-of-use electricity rates, customers can store excess solar energy produced by the system during the day in the batteries and then consume it during periods of peak energy usage in the evening and at night when electricity rates are typically higher.
Each energy storage system will consist of modular 2.5 kWh batteries that can be combined to create a system as large as 20 kWh, making it easy to scale and tailor energy storage systems to individual customer profiles. Vivint Solar will customize each system based on the customer's individual energy consumption needs, providing consumers with an important tool to help them manage their energy costs while utilizing clean energy.
"The choice to work with Mercedes-Benz Energy, a world-class innovator in energy storage, was an easy one," said David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar. "We believe their energy storage system is going to delight our customers and are impressed with their ambitious plans for the future. We look forward to bringing this innovative solution to consumers, beginning in our California markets, and to empowering greater renewable energy usage."
"According to Parks Associates research, 79% of rooftop solar PV owners purchased their system to save money on electricity," said Tom Kerber, director IoT strategy, at Parks Associates. "Adding storage is an obvious approach to improve the return on investment on a solar solution. Three-quarters of households view battery storage as an important addition to solar panels."
California is the first U.S. market where Vivint Solar will offer this solution directly to homeowners. Beginning in Q2, new customers in California will be able to buy the offering outright or finance the purchase, either through one of the institutions Vivint Solar has relationships with or their preferred lender.
