ON Power Commissions Iceland’s First Solar-Battery EV Charging
- EVs Infrastructure & Grid Connection News Solar + Storage Integration
Marin Holt
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- 7 minutes read
- ON Power installed 230 Jolywood bifacial 445 W modules totaling over 100 kW of solar capacity on rooftop and facade surfaces.
- The 450 kWh Elecnova lithium-ion battery system buffers generation for three Autel 240 kW DC fast chargers.
- Construction completed in November 2025 after planning began in late 2024.
- Iceland EV market share stands at approximately 60%, second globally only to Norway.
- ON Power operates more than 220 public charging ports across 28 locations in Reykjavik.
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ON Power, a subsidiary of Reykjavík Energy, commissioned a hybrid solar-plus-storage facility at its Reykjavík headquarters that pairs 100 kW of rooftop and facade photovoltaics with a 450 kWh lithium-ion battery system and three 240 kW DC fast chargers. The project, branded Peaker Plant, is the first integrated solar-battery EV charging hub in Iceland and entered commissioning after construction wrapped in November 2025.
What Is Being Built
The solar array uses 230 bifacial glass-glass modules from Jolywood rated at 445 W each, mounted across rooftop and building-facade surfaces. An Elecnova 450 kWh lithium-ion battery system buffers generation for three Autel 240 kW DC fast chargers. The integrated control system tests three operating modes: maximizing solar self-consumption behind the meter, smoothing load spikes during simultaneous fast-charging sessions, and delivering grid services such as peak demand reduction.
ON Power operates one of Iceland’s largest public fast-charging networks, with more than 220 charging ports across 28 locations in Reykjavík alone. The Peaker Plant installation transforms a standard charging site into a distributed energy hub that generates, stores, and dispatches electricity on-site rather than drawing entirely from the grid during peak hours.
Critical Perspective
ON Power commissioned a 100 kW
Why It Matters
Iceland’s grid runs almost entirely on hydropower and geothermal energy, yet local distribution constraints are tightening as EV adoption accelerates. Electric vehicles already hold roughly 60% market share in Iceland, the second-highest penetration rate globally after Norway. That growth concentrates demand at fast-charging hubs, creating peak loads that stress local transformers and feeders even when national generation capacity remains abundant.
Early commissioning data exceeded expectations. ON Power CTO Guðjón Hugberg Björnsson reported better-than-expected alignment between on-site solar generation and charging demand, even during winter conditions. The result demonstrates that behind-the-meter solar paired with battery storage reduces grid peak draw at charging sites regardless of season, a finding with direct implications for utilities managing distribution-level congestion.
The project required extensive coordination with Icelandic regulators on fire safety and permitting, areas that lacked local precedent for combined solar-storage-charging installations. ON Power stated the technical and operational knowledge gained already serves as a reference design for deploying similar solar-battery systems at other major charging hubs across Iceland where site conditions allow expansion.
