The announcement was featured in PV Magazine Australia.

Battery technology company Relectrify and Colormaker Industries, a boutique paint and ink manufacturer based on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, demonstrate how cutting-edge Australian technology can accelerate the transition to renewables. The Relectrify ReVolve® battery recently commissioned at Colormaker was always seen as pivotal in Colormaker’s  journey to achieving a net-zero operation. 

Having already made a significant reduction in their use of grid electricity since installing 100kW of rooftop solar, Colormaker recognised that there was a huge opportunity to gain further environmental and financial benefits from the asset through further investment in battery storage. Colormaker adopted Relectrify’s ReVolve, a revolutionary battery energy storage system (BESS). The ReVolve has enabled Colormaker to realise a step-change improvement in energy self-sufficiency and further reduce energy costs – all with a world-first product using Relectrify’s CellSwitch™ technology and second-life battery packs. 

Relectrify’s ReVolve energy storage product in situ at Colormaker Industries.

Relectrify’s patented CellSwitch™ electronics generate AC directly from the battery pack, eliminating the need for and cost of conventional inverters. Uniquely, it also accesses the energy from every battery cell individually, which enables the repurposing of used electric vehicle (EV) batteries to be economically viable. 

Colormaker’s key success metrics:

• Optimised self-consumption of solar: Colormaker’s ReVolve is charged from excess solar generation during the day instead of exporting that energy to the grid.
• Reduced purchase of grid-supplied energy: The ReVolve has reduced Colormaker’s import of energy from the grid by more than 94%, leading to dramatically reduced reliance on the grid. Colormaker now has greater confidence that they are able to use green power and see significant cost savings as an added bonus.
• Reduced demand: Early data supports the assertion that both power and associated costs are poised to decrease to single-digit percentages compared to pre-battery installation levels, taking further strain off the grid.
• Working with partners and technologies aligned with Colormaker’s sustainability ethos: The ReVolve’s unique repurposing of second-life batteries postpones energy-intensive recycling for many years, thus maximising the use of the carbon embodied in the original manufacture of the battery cells.

The ReVolve combines Relectrify’s CellSwitch™  technology with battery packs from nine Nissan LEAF EVs to store 120 kWh of energy. Its certification earlier this year  to the internationally recognised IEC standards marked a global first for a commercial and industrial scale storage product using cell-level control. The ReVolve is also the first integrated stationary battery energy storage product using repurposed second-life EV batteries to be certified for on-grid deployment in Australia. 

“At Colormaker, we’re committed to leading the way in environmentally sustainable practices,” said David Stuart, Colormaker Managing Director. “Relectrify’s world-first inverter-less battery not only gives us the opportunity to store the solar energy we’ve generated during the day and utilise it to meet our energy needs around the clock — but their use of second-life EV batteries aligns with our values and sets an example for other companies to follow when adopting sustainable energy solutions.”

In pursuit of their sustainability ambitions, Colormaker is on a mission to make their operations cleaner and more efficient. The integration of the ReVolve with Colormaker’s existing solar energy infrastructure exemplifies the business’s commitment to clean energy practices and further reducing their carbon footprint. Colormaker has received several awards for their sustainability efforts including the Solar Alliance Brookvale’s inaugural Solar Champion Award, the Northern Beaches Sustainability Award and the Business NSW Sydney Metro 2023 Award for Excellence in Sustainability.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this project that embodies the circular economy” said Juergen Barth, Relectrify VP of Partnerships. “It’s tremendous to see Relectrify’s game-changing inverterless CellSwitch technology deliver environmental and economic success for our customers. We look forward to working with more companies like Colormaker that are dedicated to seeing a world abundant with clean energy.”

The Relectrify and Colormaker teams hope that their collaboration inspires other businesses to explore how energy storage solutions can help them meet their sustainability goals. This partnership demonstrates how battery storage products featuring CellSwitch technology can revolutionise the way companies manage and store electricity by both using second-life cells and eliminating the need for inverters.

Rewiring Australia Managing Director Kate Minter, Relectrify Product Manager Marcy Faith, Colormaker Industries Managing Director David Stuart, and the Honourable Zali Steggall, OAM, MP in front of the ReVolve® product