LOS ANGELES—Sonnenbatterie, the leading European manufacturer of residential and commercial energy storage units, has signed a partnership with distributor SK Solar USA to serve the Southern California market. The partnership marks Sonnenbatterie's first foray into the US market.

The first Sonnenbatterie Center in Los Angeles opened earlier this week, and will be operated by SK Solar USA. The center is currently testing its first North American units with the intent on launching sales operations later this year. “Sonnenbatterie is the most trusted name in Germany for smart energy storage thanks to their reliability and ease of use,” says Christoph Ostermann, co-founder and CEO of Sonnenbatterie. “We look forward to earning the same trust and market leadership here in the United States.”

For the unfamiliar, Sonnenbatterie makes Lithium-Iron-Phosphate cells with a user-interface that can be operated from a smartphone, allowing users to track storage systems and monitor energy consumption. “Sonnenbatterie has integrated smart meter technology into every unit, allowing our customers to switch to battery power automatically when they are reaching their demand charge limits,” says Boris von Bormann, country manager of Sonnenbatterie North America.

The company expects to benefit from the commercial buildings in Los Angeles looking to increase efficiency and lower energy costs. “We anticipate rapid uptake of our smart energy storage solutions, especially here in California,” says von Bormann. In a recent interview, JLL Southwest market director Peter Belisle told GlobeSt.com about a similar dashboard system that allows users to see and track energy consumption to increase efficiency. Although the dashboard system doesn't store energy, just tracks it, it is another example of the products coming on the market that will help real estate owners increase building efficiency without performing major building renovations.