Solar Power World spoke with JuiceBox Energy’s Founder and Vice President Sales & Marketing Greg Maguire to find out more.
Solar Power World: How is your system different from other solar storage solutions on the market?
Founder and Vice President Sales & Marketing for JuiceBox Energy Greg Maguire
Maguire: JuiceBox Energy was one of the early movers in the advanced energy storage and management segment. We believe that we have a few significant differences. First, our product is simple to install and available to any licensed and certified installer who has performed solar installations. Second, JuiceBox customers own their system and keep all of the rebates, incentives and lifetime savings. It also works for both new and existing renewable energy installations in either AC or DC coupled configurations. Lastly, we offer a complete, integrated solution that includes the lithium-ion battery modules, intelligent controller that sets the inverter mode of operation, and most importantly a cloud-based interface that installers, consumers and utilities can use to monitor and control their device. This is the new model for residential energy networks.
SPW: What opportunity did you see in founding this company? What was the market need?
Maguire: Energy storage changes the entire economic model for solar, particularly in the residential market. Consumers have benefited with solar panels that were perfect for simplified power rate structures and generous net metering schemes. We anticipated that net metering policies would change as solar installations increased, and the reduced reimbursements from the utility would encourage customers to include the added capabilities of an intelligent energy storage system with their solar. Rate structures are changing, and customers are much more focused on doing what they can to take charge of their energy network, reduce their carbon footprint and lessen their reliance on the utility grid.
SPW: How did your 25-year aviation career help you in founding this company?
Maguire: Serving as a U.S. Navy Captain and Aviator is something I’m tremendously proud of. Naval forces practice distributed operations and then aggregate that energy and power together, which is exactly what we can do with residential solar over the JuiceBox Energy network. And what better way to do so than join forces with my brother, Neil, to form JuiceBox Energy?
The JuiceBox 8.6-kWh lithium-ion storage system works in residential and small scale commercial buildings.
SPW: Tell me a little about the installing the JuiceBox System and how it pairs with the Schneider inverter/charger.
Maguire: Our installation process was designed to be extremely simple and familiar to any electrical installer. The JuiceBox design provides a lot of flexibility on the location for the install. It is a modular assembly so you don’t need a special crew or equipment to move the system. It is wall mounted and can be installed inside or outdoors. The other activities include potentially splitting out a protected load panel for back-up loads and installing the inverter and safety disconnect.
During our training courses, installers undergo a hands-on tutorial that shows them exactly how easy it is. We often hear, “That’s it!?” when they realize that in less than 25 minutes they’ve mounted the JuiceBox enclosure, installed battery modules and the control box, connected to the inverter and then commissioned the system. Of course, there are other tasks involved such as preparing the site and running conduit, but overall it is a repeatable process so installers can accurately quote a job and make a reasonable profit.
SPW: How does the customer benefit from the system?
Maguire: We’re all connected to our devices, from our phones to our cars. To align with that trend, we offer a cloud-based interface that shows a consumer the status of their system, their scheduled mode of operation, as well as other system information. What makes this information different from panel output data is that the consumer has the ability to know that their JuiceBox Energy system is doing what it’s intended to do, whether that’s peak shifting, load shaving or back-up. For the latter, it’s about peace of mind. Consumers who face a localized grid failure receive an email or text alert and know how long the battery will last and can adjust house loads until the sun comes up the next day to recharge it off the solar or until the power is restored.
SPW: How can I become a certified installer?
Maguire: Every month, we have new installers coming to our facility in Milpitas, California for training. More than 100 have successfully completed the certification course that includes classroom lectures, practical examples and the hands-on training component. We require obtaining our certification for installers to sell because we want to ensure that each installer gets the proper training and interaction with our engineers so they’re comfortable when they’re onsite installing their first system. It has also been a great source of product feedback and has driven hardware engineering changes to facilitate ease of installation
Installers interested in attending our certification course can complete this form and we’ll schedule them for our next available class.