A new virtual power plant program gives Texans the opportunity to cut electricity bills, protect their homes from blackouts, and support clean energy for the Texas grid—all at no additional cost.
Launched January 16, the program is builds on a novel virtual power plant power purchase agreement between retail electricity providers in Texas, California financier Solrite Energy, and global solar and storage provider, sonnen.
Participating homeowners receive a free solar-plus-storage system and a guaranteed low price for electricity, reports Canary Media. In return for the zero-upfront-cost installation of rooftop solar and two or three 20 kilowatt-hour batteries, the homeowner forfeits rights to any additional income the system generates. Instead, profits are shared between Solrite—which retains ownership of the installed energy system—and sonnen.
It’s still a good deal for owners seeking to boost their homes’ resilience without the typical US$10,000 cost of installing a residential battery system. Participants are also guaranteed a flat rate of 12¢ per kilowatt-hour for the solar they consume themselves.
That’s “a lot less than the 19 to 20¢ per kWh most solar buyback programs charge,” Canary Media writes. And if extreme weather hits and the grid goes down, they have their fully charged batteries to keep them safe and warm—or cool.
“This program also sets itself apart from traditional solar buyback programs that send extra energy to the grid whenever it is sunny,” sonnen said in a release. “Instead, the sonnen battery network strategically controls when and how energy is shared with the grid, making solar energy a more reliable power source in Texas.”
Solrite CEO and founder Regan George told Canary Media the company will be able to “monetize the revenue stream generated by the batteries” to pay off its installation costs, and then some.
Whether the agreement will prove lucrative for Texas electricity providers remains an open question. But they will benefit from access to customer-sited batteries to manage the risks of buying electricity in volatile wholesale markets, while offering customers stable, competitive rates, Canary Media writes.
