Virtual reality is a new way of doing business. Homeowners can now participate in virtual power plants (VPPs) by combining energy storage and residential solar.
What are virtual power plants and VPPs?
When the demand exceeds the supply, virtual power plants can trade stored electricity from residential batteries to the utility network.
The virtual power plant’s central idea is to increase the reliability and resilience of homeowners in the wider community. Your solar+ storage system can be connected to other solar batteries in your local area. This creates a common supply of clean electricity that lowers grid infrastructure costs and smooths out fluctuations in demand or supply on the power grid.
On a hot summer’s day, when several air-conditioning units in a neighborhood turn on simultaneously, utilities will need more resources to keep up with the demand. Utilities can ask for actual power plants to be turned on to meet the demand. Still, it is often more cost-effective and efficient to ask a VPP composed of rooftop solar + storage systems from nearby neighborhoods to distribute more stable and sustainable energy.
What benefits does a VPP bring?
Customers who live in certain areas with SunVault storage systems can enroll in SunPower’s ConnectedSolutions VPP to receive seasonal participation payments. If homeowners choose to enroll, compensation will be based on their performance and provided by their local program administrator. The average SunVault storage system’s contribution per event calculates performance. This is then averaged across the season and compared with your average solar battery use.
Customers can choose how much energy they want to store and can work with SunPower on how much to sell through their SunVault control system to participating utilities. SunPower coordinates the charging and discharging of the battery. Customers can share energy with the utility while SunPower reserves some electricity for their homes.
VPPs can be a great way for utilities and citizens to work together to reduce outages. SunPower, unlike other providers, passes grid payments directly to participants. Participants can make hundreds of dollars annually by allowing the utility to discharge their battery during peak energy demand times.
Where can I start?
SunPower currently participates in the ConnectedSolutions Program with Eversource, National Grid and Cape Light Compact customers from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. SunPower plans to increase VPP opportunities in the future.