* Shell aims to boost investment in renewables
* Solar firm wants to expand in Germany, other markets
* Company aims to be profitable in Germany in two years
By Vera Eckert
FRANKFURT, May 23 (Reuters) - German solar battery makersonnen has secured 60 million euros ($71 million) in funds fromShell Ventures and existing shareholders to expand athome and abroad.
Shell Ventures, a unit of the Anglo-Dutch oil major that hasbeen boosting its investments in solar and other renewables, wasa lead investor in the latest funding round, sonnen Chiefexecutive Christoph Ostermann told Reuters.
"With this money, we can get started on important investmentplans, especially in the United States and Australia," he said,adding that existing shareholders also contributed extra cash.
"We also want to invest in broadening our sonnen communityand our virtual power plant (VPP), and expand our offering ofgrid-related services," the sonnen CEO said, adding that thefirm aimed to turn a profit in Germany in two years.
The company provides battery storage systems to householdswith rooftop solar panels and links up home-produced electricityto other solar users in Germany, Europe's biggest solar market.
The company -- which also operates in Italy, France,Australia, Austria, Britain and the United States -- provideshardware and software to customers seeking more independencefrom power markets dominated by big utilities generating most oftheir electricity from fossil fuels.
So far, sonnen has sold 30,000 batteries worldwide withcombined capacity for 210 megawatts. This only equates to asmall fossil-fuel power plant but it has potential to expand asstorage becomes cheaper and generation becomes less centralised.
The company has teamed up with grid companies to help ironout imbalances in transmission networks by aggregating batteryowners to operate as a single "virtual" power plant.
In 2016, sonnen received 76 million euros from investors,including China's Envision. Ostermann said the 76 million eurosplus the latest funding round would cover investment for thenext two years.
"It is important for us to have leg room, as we are a growthcompany and need to develop," he said.
Other sonnen investors include Germany's eCapital and MVP,Dutch firm SET Ventures, Czech company Inven Capital, and GEVentures, a unit of U.S. firm General Electric.
The investment from Shell, which operates in 140 countries,would help sonnen expand into new areas, Ostermann said.
The company boosted turnover by 65 percent to 65 millioneuros in 2017, outpacing growth in German solar battery sales of30 percent, Ostermann said, adding that a stock market listing(IPO) was a possibility but was not on the immediate horizon.
($1 = 0.8480 euros)(Reporting by Vera EckertEditing by Edmund Blair)