A flash of light, a big bang, and it’s over. Two SUVs lie askew on a patch of concrete, a debris field scattered between them. They’ve just been in a head-on collision, the moment captured by high-speed cameras aided by blindingly bright lights. That’s what a successful day looks like at the Mercedes-Benz crash-test lab in Sindelfingen, Germany.
While spectacular and jarring, crash-tests aren’t special. Mercedes averages three per day at this facility, giving engineers plenty of data from onboard sensors and crash-test dummies to analyze behind closed doors. But this test was different.
The Mercedes-Benz name has long meant luxury in the automotive industry, but now the carmaker wants to bring that same cachet to your home and its energy needs. On May 18, the German automaker announced a strategic partnership with Vivint Solar that’s aimed at helping it “bring the Mercedes-Benz customizable home energy storage system to the U.S.”
Thanks to the new collaboration, customers may soon be able to enjoy the German engineering and performance of Mercedes-Benz batteries alongside Vivint Solar’s experience in designing, installing, and maintaining solar energy systems.
Already, more than 100,000 homes across the U.S. boast Vivint Solar energy systems. But the company hopes that this number will increase by way of its new agreement with Mercedes, which marks the first time that Vivint will integrate batteries into its product line.
“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.”
The hope is that the battery storage provided by Mercedes will give Vivint Solar customers the ability to more carefully control the renewable energy their solar panels generate. Not only will the batteries serve as a backup power source in the case of a blackout, but they could also help customers cut down their energy costs. After all, whatever leftover solar energy is created in the day can be stored in batteries and used at night when energy consumption is often highest.
The new energy storage systems will be comprised of modular 2.5kWh batteries, which can be used in concert to create a system as big as 20kWh. All systems will be customized to Vivint Solar customers’ needs.
“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 [we] 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.”