Vivint Solar, Mercedes-Benz in solar-battery tie-up

Mercedes-Benz Energy, a unit of German carmaker Daimler AG (ETR:DAI) set up in 2016, and US residential solar company Vivint Solar (NYSE:VSLR) are teaming up to launch a joint solar-plus-storage offering to the US residential market.

The companies announced their exclusive strategic collaboration on Thursday. The pact represents an entry for the Mercedes-Benz Energy products into the US market, while for Vivint Solar this is the first partnership to add batteries to its rooftop solar offering.

The storage systems are based on the battery technology used in Mercedes-Benz electric and hybrid vehicles.

"As Mercedes-Benz electrifies its vehicle fleet, solar plus storage is essential to enable those vehicles to be powered by clean energy," commented Boris von Bormann, head of Mercedes-Benz Energy Americas LLC.

Daimler announced in late 2016 an expansion of its stationary energy storage business to the US and said then initial product offerings were to be expected in early 2017.

The energy storage systems will be made up of modular 2.5 kWh batteries up to a total of 20 kWh. They will be customised by Vivint Solar based on the customer's energy needs. The solar provider will first offer the storage systems in California, starting from the second quarter.

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