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Alevo Releases First GridBank for Installation Testing

August 22, 2016 by Jeff Shepard

Alevo Group announced that its first GridBank assembly unit has been released from manufacturing for Factory Acceptance Testing ahead of its commercial deployment in Lewes, Delaware. The testing procedures will be carried out in conjunction with Parker Hannifin, the leading grid tie PCS manufacturer, at its Charlotte, NC facility. It's been almost two years since opened its 3.5 million square-foot factory in Concord, North Carolina.

Testing of the GridBank assembly at Parker Hannifin will commence immediately and include live simulation across a variety of applications including peak shifting, frequency regulation and spinning reserve. Alevo Analytics will deliver computer and software systems as part of the testing procedure, commercializing its SCADA system for processing alarms, measurements and controls, in addition to delivering a Data Collector and MESA viewer system for local monitoring and control of the battery system once it has been installed in Lewes. The tests will also see the full integration of the Parker Hannifin inverter technology with the Alevo Battery Technology to create a complete GridBank experience.

“We have watched the development of the GridBank since its inception and it is exciting to see the technology commercially deployed,” explained Jim Hoelscher, General Manager of the Energy Grid Tie Division of Parker Hannifin. “Parker will conduct a variety of tests as part of the validation program for the Lewes project. We look forward to validating the GridBank’s promising capabilities that include high power, long life and a safe, non-flammable electrolyte and are pleased to have played a key part in completing the commercialization.”

Once testing is complete, the GridBank will be shipped to the City of Lewes, Delaware, the location for the first commercial deployment of Alevo’s Battery Technology as revealed earlier this year. The installation of the GridBank will involve the repurposing of a retired oil-fired generator building once operated by the Lewes Board of Public Works (BPW). Once complete, the deployment will be the largest of its kind in the State of Delaware.

“The commercial release of the first GridBank assembly marks a historic point of transition and scale-up of Alevo from lab to buildup of the manufacturing line towards the commencement of mass production of GridBank units,” states Per Dybwad, CEO of Alevo Group. “What started as a bare-bones factory just two years ago has been transformed through investment and hard work into a state-of-the-art battery and GridBank systems manufacturing center.”