ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • 27 A New Season for Energy Storage Midsummer Renewables has been making its mark on Ireland’s renewable energy market since launching in 2019. The Dublin-based wholesaler has grown into one of the country’s leading suppliers of renewable energy technology, providing electricians and solar installers with products spanning solar PV, battery storage, EV charging, heat pumps and off-grid solutions. Midsummer have been leading the way in the Irish renewable energy market, making emerging technologies accessible to the Irish installers. Their latest move is a particularly interesting one. That brings us to Eleven. Meet Eleven Midsummer Renewables has launched Eleven, a new energy storage brand specialising in sodium-ion battery technology, with its batteries now available to Irish electricians and solar installers. Now, sodium might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world. It’s the stuff you find in the kitchen cupboard, after all. But when it comes to energy storage, sodiumion technology is attracting plenty of attention, and for good reason. Unlike the lithium-ion batteries that have dominated the energy storage market in recent years, sodium-ion batteries use sodium ions to store and release energy. Sodium is Industry News Midsummer Renewables abundant and widely available, providing an alternative battery chemistry with some compelling advantages for the renewable energy sector. For installers, one of the most interesting aspects of sodium-ion technology is its potential to provide dependable energy storage while making use of a more abundant raw material. Eleven has been developed with this changing energy landscape in mind, offering battery storage solutions designed to work alongside renewable energy systems and help households make better use of the energy they generate. Why sodium-ion? The growth of solar PV in Ireland has been remarkable. More homes and businesses are generating their own electricity, but naturally, the sun doesn’t always shine when we need electricity most. That makes energy storage increasingly important. A battery allows excess solar generation to be stored during the day and used when it is actually needed, helping households maximise their solar investment and reduce their reliance on electricity from the grid. Sodium-ion technology brings some particularly interesting benefits to the table, including strong performance in colder conditions, good thermal stability and the use of a more abundant raw material. Sodium is also much more widely available than lithium, which could prove increasingly important as global demand for energy storage continues to grow. For Ireland, where the weather can accurately be described as “four seasons in one afternoon”, battery performance across a range of temperatures is certainly worth considering. A new option for Irish installers For electricians and solar installers, having a wider range of battery technologies to choose from is a positive development. Every installation is different. The right solution depends on the customer’s energy usage, solar system, available space, budget and long-term requirements. As battery storage becomes a bigger part of the Irish renewable energy market, installers need access to technologies that give them more flexibility when designing systems. That’s where Eleven comes in. For Midsummer Renewables, bringing Eleven to the Irish market is about more than simply adding another product to its portfolio. The company has built its reputation around supplying innovative renewable technologies to the installers who are driving Ireland’s transition towards cleaner energy. There’s something about the end of August that makes you realise summer has disappeared quicker than expected. One minute the sun is out and everyone is making the most of the long evenings, and the next, the back-to-school signs are everywhere, club football is back on the telly and supermarkets have somehow decided that it is perfectly reasonable to start displaying Halloween decorations. While the seasons are changing, the Irish renewable energy industry certainly isn’t slowing down. (next page.)
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