Sodium-Ion Storage Breakthrough Brings Rooftop Solar to Urbanites

Sodium-Ion Storage Breakthrough Brings Rooftop Solar to Urbanites

Blue Whale Energy, a Southeast Asia-based developer of virtual power plants, has partnered with California’s UNIGRID, Inc. to roll out compact sodium-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS) tailored for space-constrained urban commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftops. UNIGRID, Inc., an advanced sodium-ion battery innovator,

As solar installations surge worldwide, cities face a growing challenge: managing intermittent power generation in areas where large-scale battery deployment is restricted by space and safety regulations. Traditional lithium-ion systems, while effective, are often too bulky or risky for dense urban settings.

Modular sodium-ion battery packs

Blue Whale Energy and UNIGRID aim to overcome this with a novel solution — installing modular sodium-ion battery packs directly beneath rooftop solar panels. The co-location strategy is made possible by UNIGRID’s fire-safe, thermally resilient battery technology, which avoids the cooling and containment needs of lithium-ion alternatives.

“This technology is a game changer,” said Gabriel Lim, CEO of Blue Whale Energy. “With UNIGRID’s sodium-ion platform, we can now turn every commercial and industrial rooftop into a dispatchable grid asset.”

Darren Tan, CEO of UNIGRID, added: “We’re proud to support Blue Whale in building Southeast Asia’s virtual power plant network. This opens up untapped markets for distributed, safe energy storage.”

An initial 8 MWh of storage capacity is expected to be deployed by the end of 2025, with the rollout set to expand across Southeast Asia from 2026.

What Are Sodium-Ion Batteries

Unlike lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries use abundant and inexpensive sodium instead of lithium as the primary charge carrier. This makes them an attractive alternative for large-scale energy storage, especially in regions where lithium supply chains are limited or costly. Sodium-ion batteries also offer improved safety, with lower risk of overheating or fire, and can operate effectively across a wider range of temperatures without active cooling systems. While their energy density is generally lower than lithium-based systems, ongoing advances in materials and design are quickly narrowing the performance gap.