City Council Appropriates Funding for Solar Energy Storage Technology

Published on July 10, 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 11, 2023) – On Monday night, the Charlotte City Council voted to adopt a budget ordinance that appropriates $20,000 from Joules Accelerator, a local nonprofit that supports climate tech startups, to the General Capital Projects Fund.

Joules Accelerator is providing funds to the city to aid in the purchase of solar energy storage equipment, which will be installed underneath the solar panels at CMPD Central Division at 700 W. Fifth St. in Council District 2. Being placed underneath the panels will save space and require no electricity to thermally regulate the equipment.

This equipment will store excess renewable energy from the solar panels and then release it in the evening, increasing the amount of off-grid renewable energy the building will use. These efforts support the goal set forth in the Strategic Energy Action Plan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“At Joules Accelerator, we work with early-stage climate tech startups to find revenue-generating pilots,” said Executive Director Bob Irvin. “We are excited to see this collaboration between our Cohort 7 startup, Yotta Energy, and our long-standing partner, the City of Charlotte. We hope this donation marks the beginning of continued partnership opportunities between the city and Joules to provide sustainable energy solutions throughout the Carolinas.”

The equipment will be purchased from Yotta Energy, a renewable energy company that is part of Joules’ portfolio and provides scalable, affordable, and decentralized energy storage by coupling the storage directly to solar panels.

The total estimated purchase cost is $59,200 with $20,000 coming from the Joules Accelerator grant and $39,200 from the city’s local match. The local match is available within current appropriations.

To learn more about the city’s Strategic Energy Action Plan, visit its dedicated webpage.