Longi’s acquisition of PotisEdge shows where green energy storage is heading next: integrated, intelligent, and safety-first systems that financiers can trust.
Most solar companies are scrambling to escape collapsing margins. Longi just chose a different route: move deeper into energy storage and bet on reliability over hype.
That’s what’s really happening behind Longi’s acquisition of a majority stake in PotisEdge, a system integrator with more than 12GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS) already deployed. This isn’t just another M&A headline — it’s a signal that green technology is maturing fast, and the next phase will be defined by safe, intelligent, and integrated storage rather than just cheap capacity.
For businesses planning utility-scale solar, grid services, or flexible industrial loads in 2026 and beyond, this matters a lot. Storage is moving from “nice add-on” to core infrastructure, and the players who can combine solar, hydrogen, and batteries into one coherent, software-driven stack will set the pace.
This article breaks down what Longi’s move into energy storage means, what’s special about PotisEdge’s technology, and how it fits into the broader green technology shift toward AI-driven, reliable, and safe clean energy systems.
Longi + PotisEdge: More than an acquisition, a signal
Longi’s acquisition of around 62% of PotisEdge gives it sole control of a company that has spent a decade doing the hard, unglamorous work of system integration for grid-scale BESS.
The energy storage market is in a phase of rapid growth and disorderly competition. The next competitive edge is reliability, not just having technology.
That’s how Longi’s VP Dennis She framed the deal, and he’s right. The past few years have seen:
- Huge gigawatt-hour pipelines announced, but many delayed or re-scoped
- Fierce price wars on cells and containers
- Safety incidents and permitting headaches due to fire risk
- Fragmented supply chains and “Frankenstein” systems stitched together from mismatched components
PotisEdge comes at this from the opposite direction. As founder and president Minjie Shi explained, the company focuses on designing and manufacturing all key components of a BESS — except the cells themselves:
- Power conversion system (PCS)
- Battery management system (BMS)
- Energy management system (EMS)
- Thermal management system (TMS)
- And its own Intelligent Cell Contact System (ICCS) for early thermal runaway detection
So Longi brings global brand, financing power, and sales channels. PotisEdge brings deeply integrated hardware and software and a track record of building full systems that actually work in the field.
For green technology as a whole, this combination supports a shift from “add storage to solar” to “design solar + storage as one intelligent asset”.
Why reliability and safety are becoming the real differentiators
The energy storage industry has moved fast, but not always cleanly. You’ve got:
- Over-supplied cell manufacturing
- Aggressive cost-cutting
- Patchy standards and regulations across regions
The result is exactly what Longi called out: disorderly competition. Many projects are optimized for lowest CapEx instead of whole-life performance, which is a terrible trade-off for assets you expect to run for 15–20 years.
From “just add batteries” to intelligent, predictable systems
PotisEdge structures its tech stack around five “S” pillars:
- BMS – monitors individual cells and packs, balances charging, prevents over/under-voltage
- EMS – decides when to charge/discharge based on grid conditions, prices, and constraints
- PCS – converts DC to AC, manages grid interaction and power quality
- TMS – keeps temperatures in safe, efficient operating ranges
- ICCS – proprietary layer for cell-level monitoring and predicting thermal runaway
This last part is crucial. A typical BESS safety incident doesn’t come out of nowhere; there are warning signs at the cell level. PotisEdge’s ICCS is designed to provide:
- Early warnings when a cell drifts out of expected behavior
- Predictive flags that a string or rack may be trending toward risk
- Automated responses to isolate or shut down affected sections quickly
For asset owners and grid operators, that’s not a “nice to have” — it directly affects:
- Project bankability (will lenders support it?)
- Insurance terms and premiums
- Community acceptance, permitting, and political risk
There’s a simple pattern across green technology right now: once deployment hits scale, software and safety decide who survives. Energy storage is finally hitting that stage.
What PotisEdge actually builds: From DC units to AC all-in-one BESS
PotisEdge isn’t a concept-stage startup. It already has 12GWh of BESS deployed, mostly at grid-scale, with:
- A strong presence in China
- Growing deployments in North America, Europe, and Australia
Product evolution: DC systems first, now AC all-in-one
Historically, PotisEdge focused on DC-coupled solutions, especially a 5MWh unit that’s been widely deployed. DC systems are popular in large solar+storage projects because they allow:
- Direct DC coupling to PV
- Potential efficiency gains
- Flexible control over charging from solar or the grid
In September, PotisEdge launched a 6.25MWh AC BESS product with string inverters and integrated ICCS fire safety technology.
Key characteristics of this AC all-in-one approach:
- Grid-ready: Comes with inverter and PCS, so it connects straight to the AC side
- Higher energy density: More MWh per footprint, which matters as land and port space get tighter
- Built-in safety: ICCS integrated at the design level, not bolted on later
Demand is strong for both DC and AC systems, and the reality is that asset owners don’t want to be locked into one architecture. Having both options, with a common controls and safety platform, gives developers more flexibility to tailor projects to regulations, grid codes, and revenue stacks in each country.
Manufacturing scale and localization
On the production side, PotisEdge is already manufacturing at meaningful scale:
- 31GWh of capacity in Suzhou, China
- A new 4–6GWh facility in Atlanta, Georgia, starting production next year
The Atlanta plant will:
- Produce the same product lines as Suzhou
- Rely on high automation, with only ~100 employees
- Help US projects navigate local-content requirements and policy incentives
For US-based developers and IPPs, that last point is big. Local manufacturing isn’t just a political talking point; it’s now a practical necessity for unlocking tax credits and utility RFPs.
How this reshapes the energy storage landscape in Europe and beyond
Longi isn’t dipping a toe in. It plans to roll out an “Energy Storage One-Stop Solution” that integrates solar, storage, and eventually hydrogen, with priority deployment in:
- The UK
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
These are exactly the markets where:
- Solar penetration is surging
- Grid congestion and curtailment are rising
- Storage is moving from pilot projects to core infrastructure
Europe as a hub for innovation, not just deployment
As part of the deal, Longi will set up a Solar-Storage Technology Innovation Center in Europe. That’s a smart move for a few reasons:
- European markets have tougher safety expectations after several BESS fire cases
- Grid codes are complex and country-specific, which forces better software and controls
- There’s a growing focus on AI-driven optimization of assets for ancillary services, capacity markets, and trading
If Longi and PotisEdge get this right, Europe becomes their testbed for the kind of AI-powered, integrated clean energy systems that our Green Technology series keeps coming back to: renewables, storage, and smart controls treated as one digital asset.
Chinese solar manufacturers moving into storage
Longi isn’t alone. Chinese solar PV companies across the board are moving into:
- Battery manufacturing
- System integration
- Full-stack energy platforms
The reasons are clear:
- PV module prices are under pressure due to chronic oversupply
- Profits in plain-vanilla module sales are shrinking
- Storage and smart systems offer higher margins and stickier customer relationships
The winners will be those who can combine manufacturing scale with software, controls, and reliability. That’s exactly where a system integrator like PotisEdge fits in.
What this means for developers, utilities, and industrial energy users
If you’re planning or operating large-scale clean energy assets, Longi’s move into storage with PotisEdge has three very practical implications.
1. Integrated solar + storage will become the default
Within a few years, most new large PV projects will be designed as storage-ready from day one. Vendors offering bundled solar + BESS + controls will be in a stronger position to:
- Reduce integration risk
- Shorten procurement and commissioning timelines
- Offer performance guarantees across the whole asset
If you’re still sourcing modules, inverters, BESS, and software separately, expect pressure — from financiers and regulators — to simplify and standardize.
2. Safety and data will drive financing terms
Technologies like PotisEdge’s ICCS aren’t just “nice engineering features”. They give lenders and insurers harder data to work with:
- Early-warning logs and predictive maintenance records
- Clear evidence of cell-level monitoring and isolation
- Documented incident-reduction performance over GWh deployed
Projects with strong monitoring, AI-driven diagnostics, and thermal management will get better debt terms and lower insurance costs than those that treat safety as an afterthought.
3. Local manufacturing will shape your supplier shortlist
With PotisEdge’s plant in Atlanta and Longi’s global footprint, you’ll see more storage products offered with:
- Local or regional assembly
- Clear compliance paths for incentive programs
- Reduced shipping and logistics risk for heavy, energy-dense systems
If your strategy for 2026–2030 still assumes everything ships from a single country, it’s time to revisit that.
How this fits into the bigger green technology story
Across this Green Technology series, a pattern keeps showing up: scale first, intelligence second, safety and reliability third. Solar went through this journey, EVs are still in it, and now storage is catching up.
Longi entering storage through PotisEdge is a sign that we’re entering the “intelligent, reliable storage” phase:
- First phase: Just add more batteries
- Second phase: Make them cheaper
- Current phase: Make them predictable, safe, and grid-integrated
For businesses, the practical takeaway is simple: when you evaluate energy storage partners, don’t just ask for the MWh price.
Ask:
- How integrated are the BMS, EMS, PCS, TMS, and safety layers?
- What predictive diagnostics and AI tools are built in?
- How many GWh have been deployed, and what’s the incident record?
- Where is manufacturing done, and how does that align with your policy and supply chain needs?
The green transition isn’t just about adding more clean megawatts. It’s about building intelligent, resilient systems that can run safely and profitably for decades. Longi’s move with PotisEdge is one more step in that direction — and a clear hint of where the storage market is heading next.