SwitchDin / VARTA pulse 6 battery integration testing site live in Newcastle
Adding another tier 1 manufacturer to its list of integration partners, SwitchDin has established a testing site with German battery manufacturer VARTA on the path to full integration with the company’s ‘pulse 6’ storage system.
In addition to providing performance monitoring for the customer and installer, SwitchDin’s Droplet controller will also ensure that the system is virtual power plant-ready, allowing the owner to benefit from participation in VPP programs going forward. SwitchDin Droplets also help the VARTA pulse 6 to meet VPP-ready eligibility requirements under the South Australia Home Battery Scheme (HBS).
VARTA is a German company with 130 years’ experience in battery chemistry and manufacturing. The company’s first home battery storage unit in Australia, VARTA’s pulse is an all-in-one, AC-coupled battery+inverter storage solution well-suited for retrofitting onto homes with pre-existing solar installations. It has 6 kilowatt-hours (kWh nominal) of storage capacity and a power output rating of 2.3 kilowatts (kW). pulse 6 units can be connected together to provide more storage and output capacity where necessary.
At the integration testing site, the customer’s existing solar system is comprised of 8.58kW of solar PV capacity and an 8.2kW Fronius Primo PV inverter, with a pool pump, air conditioning and other standard loads on site. With ample surplus solar energy available on clear days, they are considering adding further battery capacity in the form of another VARTA pulse unit.
Forster Tuncurry-based COG Electrics installed the battery portion of the system, which was provided to SwitchDin and the customer by VARTA. COG is a VARTA-certified installer and has been in the business of solar and other electrical installations for over twenty years.
About the integration
The installation of SwitchDin’s Droplet allows the system owner to view data from the entire system (inclusive of PV and battery) via a single monitoring portal (as per the video to the right).
Meanwhile, SwitchDin is undertaking integration and testing with the VARTA system to pave the way for future dispatch in VPP programs, with the ability to provide energy market response and network services. This will allow the customer to obtain more financial benefit from the battery than storage for self-consumption alone.
SwitchDin Droplet firmware updates resulting from the integration process will be carried across to existing and future Droplet-coupled VARTA units; Droplets may also be retrofitted onto existing pulse 6 systems to deliver monitoring and VPP-ready functionality.
VARTA’s pulse 6 is one of a range of battery and inverter products for which SwitchDin enables single-portal monitoring and VPP-readiness. SwitchDin also provides the embedded, turnkey energy management system (EMS) for Eguana Technologies’ ‘Evolve’ units in Australia, and is integrated with a range of popular CEC-accredited, battery-compatible inverters.
The VARTA pulse 6 installation at the integration testing site in Newcastle.
SwitchDin Droplet & power supply in a separate enclosure. The Droplet connects to the battery via an Ethernet cable.