Aquion Energy, which develops energy storage systems, has closed a $30 million round of venture financing.
The Pittsburgh-based company says its battery systems have been specifically developed to meet the demanding requirements of both small and large-scale renewable energy storage applications.
It designs and manufactures a sodium-ion, aqueous electrolyte battery based on research conducted at Carnegie Mellon University.
The company says the battery minimizes battery cell and system costs, while improving on the performance of incumbent technologies.
In addition, Aquion says the battery solution is environmentally benign, containing no hazardous or corrosive materials.
Foundation Capital led the funding round with participation from returning investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as well as new investors Advanced Technology Ventures and TriplePoint Capital.
Prior to this round, Aquion had been funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and the U.S. Department of Energy.
This fall, Aquion expects to ship its first pre-production energy storage systems to external testing facilities and selected strategic partners.
It’s in the process of identifying an appropriate site for its first high volume factory in the US. They expect to be operating in 2013 and create over 500 clean energy jobs.
The potential market for energy storage is vast and is forecast to exceed $20 billion globally by 2021 (Pike Research, 2011).
Loading...