Royalpark Homes Collaborates With Panasonic to Offer Residential Battery Storage Solution in New Homes

BARRIE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 2, 2015) - Today, Royalpark Homes announced its collaboration with Panasonic Canada to offer residential battery storage in its new home builds. This new Residential Battery Storage System includes all the components needed to capture solar energy and store electricity for later use. Royalpark has plans to offer this package and other environmentally sustainable options in future projects in Vaughan, Aurora, and the industry changing Green Earth Village in East Gwillimbury.

Royalpark made the announcement at its latest premiere development, Simcoe Shores, in Barrie with the support of the Honourable Glen Murray, Ontario's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Minister Murray is in charge of reducing Ontario's carbon footprint, with one of his stated targets being the housing and building sectors.

"I commend Royalpark Homes and Panasonic for demonstrating a shared commitment to fighting climate change. This type of collaboration will help us achieve meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas pollution from the housing and building sectors. Building entire communities that offer this type of technological integration, like Royalpark's Green Earth Village in East Gwillimbury, will be at the heart of our low carbon future," stated Minister Murray.

"We are very excited about the potential to offer our customers peace of mind in the case of outages and the ability to save money by offsetting electricity costs with Panasonic's turn-key residential battery storage solution as part of our base package now and in future communities like Green Earth Village in East Gwillimbury," said Marco DeSimone, President of Royalpark Homes.

The residential battery storage system includes Full Solar Photovoltaic Module installation and a compact 10kWh Lithium-ion battery system that is tied together using a hybrid inverter that optimizes energy management and cost performance benefits. This is done by using the inverter to store electricity in the battery storage system during low rate off-peak hours, for use during high rate peak-usage hours. By discharging electricity during the peak-usage hours, Royalpark customers will minimize the amount of energy needed from the electric utility grid as it combines with the electricity being generated by the solar pv panels at the most expensive time.

"When innovators like Royal Park Homes become early adopters of technologies such as Panasonic's Residential Battery Storage System into mainstream home construction we take another step towards an environmentally sustainable future," stated Dan Leeming, Partner, The Planning Partnership, Lead Planner of Green Earth Village and Member of the Climate Change Advisory Group to Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

"I am excited that Royalpark Homes selected the Simcoe Shores development in Barrie to introduce this game changing technology," said Ann Hoggarth, MPP Barrie. "By giving homeowners the ability to store and manage their own electricity use, Royalpark and Panasonic are leading the way on how homes will be designed and built in the future," added Hoggarth.

"Not only does the battery storage system serve as a backup power source and reduce electricity costs, the energy monitoring system that comes with the package will help the homeowner better understand how and when they are using energy, often leading to changes on when they use energy the most," said Walter Buzzelli, Managing Director at Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada Inc.

Royalpark Homes has 30 years experience building a reputation of meeting the changing needs and desires of its prospective homeowners. The company strives to incorporate leading edge and innovative ideas into its builds. By acknowledging the heightened demand for environmental awareness it is incorporating "green" technology and building practices into its homes that are not only environmentally friendly but save it customers money on energy costs.

BACKGROUNDER

Residential Battery Storage in New Homes

October 2^nd, 2016

First Collaboration of its Kind

The collaboration between Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada Inc. and Royalpark Homes is the first collaboration between a homebuilder and smart energy solutions provider in Canada. Royalpark will install Panasonic Eco Solutions' Residential Battery Storage system as part of a comprehensive energy solution that also includes a solar photovoltaic (pv) system in new home builds.

In addition to a full solar pv module installation, the system includes a compact 10kWh (8 usable kWh) Lithium-ion battery system made by Tabuchi Electric powered by Panasonic batteries. The solar panel and battery storage systems are tied together using a hybrid inverter that optimizes energy management and cost performance benefits. These benefits come from using the inverter to store electricity in the battery storage system during off-peak, low rate hours, then discharging the battery during the peak-usage hours. By discharging during the peak-usage hours, the customer can minimize the amount of energy needed from the electric utility grid as it combines with the electricity being generated by the solar pv panels at the most expensive time.

Homeowners will also enjoy the system as a source of backup electricity, as the battery storage system can also provide power during power outages or blackouts. The battery can be programmed using a remote control device to retain a certain percentage of its electrical charge for emergencies. Additionally, the system comes with a monitoring system to allow users a way to check how all components of the system are functioning and make adjustments to optimize performance.

About Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada Inc.

Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada Inc. is the Canadian arm of a global team within Panasonic Corporation. Its mission is to become the leader in the deployment of renewable, smart energy systems in Canada. Panasonic provides reliable and bankable, end-to-end turnkey solutions, enabling all the required elements for renewable solar and energy storage initiatives, including full installation, financing, long term assurance and operations and maintenance.

About Royalpark Homes

Royalpark Homes has built a reputation of meeting the needs and desires of its prospective homeowners by using its valuable knowledge and experience that it has acquired over more than 30 years to build new homes with competence and professionalism. The company also strives to incorporate leading edge and innovative ideas into its homes. This is demonstrated as Royalpark is responding to the heightened demand for environmental awareness and incorporating "green" building practices. These practices, while environmentally friendly, also are based on the idea of the company saving its customers money on energy costs.