The three winners this year of the ees AWARD 2017 for the most innovative concepts and solutions from the energy storage industry were Solarwatt, LG Chem and Energy Depot Deutschland.

“Each had a distinctive product or approach that made them stand apart from their rivals,” a spokesman for exhibition organizer ees said.

“The winners of the ees AWARD 2017 all work in the area of lithium-ion technology and distinguish themselves through modularity, scalability and smart components.”

Solarwatt won the award for deploying two intelligent, standardized, interconnected building blocks that create tailor-made energy storage systems in its MyReserve Matrix battery.

The battery has been designed to be completely modular, enabling any storage capacity from 2kWh to 2MWh to be configured. Because of its size — each module is housed in aluminium blocks slightly smaller than a car battery— and relatively light weight of 25kg, the modules can be adapted for residential use as well as commercial storage.

LG Chem won the award as it has developed a stand-alone battery module high energy density product ready for multi-purpose use. The module is suitable for a variety of applications and off-grid supply solutions thanks to a charging strategy that ensures the ideal charge transfer between battery modules.

The system is durable and easily maintained, retaining 80% of its initial capacity after 10 years. The design fits into a standard 19-inch rack. The judging panel said they had been impressed by the easy system connection and integration of up to 10 battery modules.

Energy Depot Deutschland’s CENTURIO Energy Storage System won the award for a combination of hybrid inverter and lithium-ion battery modules for the storage, conversion, distribution and control of photovoltaic energy. The DC-coupled system comprises the Centurio 10 hybrid inverter, DOMUS 4.1 batteries and the Vectis 30 smart power switch and meter.

The ees AWARD 2017 ceremony — now in its fourth year — takes place at the end of the first exhibition day at ees Europe, Europe’s largest and most visited exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems. The award has become widely accepted as the most important in the industry.

The judging panel at the submissions said the most burning topics for the energy storage industry were: efficiency, longevity and flexibility. To determine the winners, the panel also applied additional criteria: degree of technological innovation, the benefit for industry, environment and society, and economic viability.

Furthermore, the products submitted must have already reached the testing or application phase or else represent an important development of existing solutions.