Let’s go solar, together!

Since 2020, Rolls Battery has participated as an equipment sponsor and event planning committee member for the annual Solar Games held at Intersolar North America.

The Solar Games is the industry’s first installer competition, tasking teams with building residential solar + storage systems live in the Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America expo hall.

Competing teams are judged on installation quality, safety, speed, and more as they advance through the tournament. Even better? The winning team takes home a $10,000 cash prize—and the title of Solar Games Champion.

In partnership with Twende Solar, the equipment donated by manufacturers for this event is then repurposed and installed in one of the many off-grid and backup systems they complete in underprivileged and developing countries around the world.

To ensure the success of this event and partnership, Rolls flooded and AGM models used at the games each year, along with other system components including inverters, chargers, PV modules and racking, are sized and selected based on the specific system and energy storage requirements of an upcoming project.

This year, Rolls has donated R12-100LFP (LiFePO4) lithium batteries for the games. These lightweight 12-volt drop-in models will be used in one of Twende’s upcoming projects, providing reliable off-grid energy storage in small remote installations. Details of their upcoming project will be announced later in the new year.

“Twende Solar is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering under-resourced communities with access to renewable energy systems around the world. Since our founding in 2015, we have used Rolls batteries in a number of different applications in our global electrification projects including an off-grid system for a school in Cambodia, an installation for a remote community in Guatemala, a homeless shelter in Portland, Oregon and an off-grid school in rural Ethiopia.

Most recently, we installed a 60 kW system and back-up battery storage system using Rolls 6-volt S6-460AGM-RE batteries for Dignity Village, a community in Portland, OR serving individuals experiencing homelessness. In addition to wiring electricity to each of the 48 tiny homes that make up Dignity Village, we installed a battery back-up system for the community’s central Commons Building, ensuring back-up power during potential power outages and a safe gathering place for community members when power for heat, cooling and charging goes out in their residences. 

Earlier this year we shipped sixteen (16) Rolls S12-160AGM-RE batteries to a project site in Ethiopia, where we will be supporting a 8 kW solar installation for a school that serves over 1000 primary and secondary school students and their families. With the installation of solar energy and storage, the school will have a reliable source of power for the first time to provide lighting, charging stations for computers and electronic devices, and access to educational resources after dark that will benefit the students and the community.”

– Robin Swanhuyser, Executive Director, Twende Solar