SANTA BARBARA, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 14, 2017) - Ice Energy has announced the planned release of several new ice battery solutions for supermarkets and the general commercial refrigeration market, based on its proven line of award-winning energy storage products for HVAC applications.
The decision follows prototyping and testing at Ice Energy's IdeaLAB in Riverside, California, where the company has demonstrated commercial refrigeration storage capabilities with the same low cost and high reliability that Ice Energy has delivered to commercial and residential HVAC markets with its Ice Bear and Ice Cub products. The new products serving the worldwide commercial refrigeration market will be designated the Polar Bear line, with different models supporting a range of refrigeration storage capacities and application needs. They are expected to be available by the end of this year.
The Polar Bear solution will enable businesses with large refrigeration-based energy loads to reduce their peak electricity demand by up to 95 percent, shifting six hours of a building's refrigeration-based peak load to cheaper off-peak hours. The Polar Bear ice battery will seamlessly integrate with existing supermarket or commercial refrigeration systems. It will also provide a smart-grid controller to monitor energy use and control performance.
"Since our inception in 2003, Ice Energy has maintained an ambitious and productive culture of R&D innovation, built upon a robust portfolio of defensible intellectual property," said Mike Hopkins, Ice Energy CEO. "We continue to develop solutions and applications based on our core IP, systematically extending our energy storage product lines across commercial, industrial and residential markets in comfort cooling -- and now commercial refrigeration."
Paul Thompson, Ice Energy's Director of Intellectual property, adds, "Our company has continued placing barriers to competitive entry by advancing the technology while developing a strong portfolio of patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, defensive publications, and trade secrets. These strategies have been implemented utilizing foundational patents for pioneering inventions and a comprehensive portfolio of improvements and innovations that surround those inventions."
This announcement comes on the heels of Ice Energy's recently executed contract to deliver 100 Ice Bear 20 residential ice battery storage units to the Southern California Public Power Authority. The Ice Bear 20 system, along with the smaller Ice Cub, represent the successful productization of Ice Energy's technology for the residential market.
Ice Energy's suite of energy storage solutions and IP portfolio cover both single-stage and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems used in commercial and residential HVAC and commercial refrigeration systems. A California study by the UC Davis-based Western Cooling Efficiency Center found that more than 63% of cooling systems were of the direct exchange (DX) variety supported by Ice Energy's line of solutions.
According to a 2016 report by the Freedonia Group, global demand for commercial refrigeration equipment is forecast to increase 4.5 percent per year through 2020, to $35.3 billion. Much of this growth is due to the need to replace equipment damaged by constant compressor cycling that refrigeration systems experience under typical operation. Ice Energy solutions reduce compressor cycling by up to 75% by providing refrigeration via the ice battery during the highest demand periods of the day.
About Ice Energy
Ice Energy is a leading energy storage provider for the grid. Its Ice Bear units deliver behind-the-meter ice battery storage for HVAC systems in commercial, industrial and residential applications, and now commercial refrigeration, providing peak capacity to over 40 utility service territories nationwide. With contracts to deliver 25.6 MW of storage to Southern California Edison in partnership with NRG Energy; 5 MW in Riverside, CA; 6 MW in Redding, CA; and an additional 450+ MW in the sales pipeline, the company is expanding quickly in the U.S. and internationally. For more information, visit www.ice-energy.com.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Eugene Hunt
Trevi Communications for Ice Energy
office: 978-750-0333
email: