Exclusive: Yotta Energy nets $8M for batteries on roofs

Solar battery startup Yotta Energy has raised $8 million to grow manufacturing and deployment of its distributed battery systems on the rooftops of businesses and organizations, the company told Axios.

Why it matters: There's major untapped economic and carbon-reduction potential in bringing solar and batteries to the roofs of commercial and industrial buildings.

Details: Austin, Texas-based Yotta Energy, founded in 2017, closed the extension of the Series A round led by Evergy Ventures, the VC arm of utility Evergy.

• New strategic investors BlueScope and Cricetus Felix Ventures joined the round, as well as existing investors Copec Wind Ventures, EDP Ventures, Doral Tech Ventures and the Swan Impact Fund.
• Yotta Energy plans to raise a Series B round early next year, says CEO Omeed Badkoobeh.
• Badkoobeh says the company will use this latest round to grow its number of deployments to 50, or 3 to 5 MWh of storage, as well as develop a second-generation battery product.

Zoom in: The company makes a modular battery that it installs directly on roofs next to solar panels.

• Many solar deployments that use batteries put them in a centralized, more protected place, like on the ground level at the side of the building in a container.
• The startup's main innovation is using phase-change heat exchangers to keep the batteries cool or warm while on top of a hot or cold rooftop.

Big picture: Commercial buildings account for 16% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and putting solar and batteries on commercial roofs could save building owners money and cut carbon emissions.

• A study from Wood Mackenzie found that the U.S. is sitting on untapped potential of 145 GW of unused commercial solar.