Axion Power International has announced that it has received a follow-on purchase order for four more PowerCube energy storage systems from its strategic partner, a NJ-based solar installer for commercial and residential markets. The Cubes will provide storage for energy created by a commercial solar panel system and service the frequency regulation market on the PJM grid.

The purchase order - valued at just north of $1,100,000. - includes batteries, racks, wiring, a data communication system and the electronics coordination needed to outfit and install the PowerCubes. Each of the PowerCubes will be tied to solar arrays that produce between 500kw and 700kw of power and the PowerCubes will each provide 500kw (both 500kw up and 500kw down) for frequency regulation.

Axion's onsite 500kw PowerCube has been connected into the PJM grid utility network, the nation's largest power transmission organization serving more than 58 million people in all or parts of 13 states, for more than 21/2 years.

Set up as a demand response and frequency regulation asset, the company developed and tweaked a working model in a real world setting utilizing the PowerCube's ability to participate 24/7 (although Axion's model shows the ideal return at a lesser number than 24/7) in the PJM frequency regulation market noted Axion Power Chairman and CEO Tom Granville.

After spending time in the PowerCube at Axion, and viewing the data from that asset and from the Axion Cube at the Washington Naval Yard, and after consideration of Axion's model supported by raw revenue data from PJM, our strategic partner purchased its first PowerCube in November 2013 for use in combination with a solar installation, Granville added.

"Axion PowerCubes, with our proprietary PbC batteries and their unique properties that include high cycle life; high charge acceptance; an ability to recharge quickly (much faster than lithium-ion for example); and the battery's inherent ability to equalize voltage in string applications, continue to prove their effectiveness and reliability, on a daily basis, in the energy storage and the frequency regulation markets", Granville said.

"More and more, storage is being recognized as a very important adjunct to renewable energy - such as solar power. In years past, hundreds of MW's of renewables came on line without storage. Today, however, that is no longer the case. California, for example, has come to recognize the importance of combining storage with renewables and the state recently enacted an energy storage mandate that requires California utilities to acquire 1325MW of new energy storage by 2020. We believe the PowerCube has shown it can be an effective part of any energy power distribution system and we plan to participate in opportunities such as those presented by initiatives in California and Hawaii", Granville concluded.