BYD wins 170-MW solar module supply deal in US

Chinese batteries and electric vehicles (EV) maker BYD Company Ltd (HKG:1211) said Thursday it has secured its largest single solar module order in North America to date, a 170-MW contract from US renewables developer NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE).

The Chinese company also said it is preparing to launch its home energy storage system in the US market. The announcements were made as part of the Solar Power International 2017 event in Las Vegas.

BYD said it secured the multi-million-dollar module order after completing several rounds of quality and performance tests. The modules will be installed at solar projects in the US. BYD says it has shipped about 1 GW of solar modules in the US so far.

After launching its B-Box energy storage system in Europe and Australia earlier this year, the company now plans to bring the product to the US later in 2017. It said the first B-Box system has now been installed in Germany and represents an installation with a capacity of 11.52 kWh coming from nine battery modules. In the US the company will target east and west coast states and Hawaii, where high conventional electricity costs and grid constraints make storage attractive.

At Solar Power International, Tom Zhao, managing director of BYDs solar division, also said that BYD is in talks with several "global new energy companies" about introducing EV-charging infrastructure.

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