What if the grid uses your solar home batteries to avoid blackouts in California? Would you allow it?
Buying excess energy from residential solar home batteries is what PG&E and Sunrun had in mind when they reached an agreement on February 6, 2023, in which Sunrun will enroll up to 7,500 new and existing home solar and battery customers in PG&E’s service area. These customers will receive payment from PG&E for their energy storage, allowing CA to avoid blackouts during peak times. PG&E and Sunrun believe this agreement will benefit customers as it allows for more efficient energy usage and provides an additional source of income for Sunrun customers.
Why PG&E and Sunrun plan to buy excess energy from home batteries
Both companies think the Energy Efficiency Summer Reliability Program will resolve outages during California’s hottest months when electricity demand is highest and supplies are tighter. The goal is to create a virtual power plant that feeds 30 megawatts of clean energy into the grid.
PG&E and Sunrun partnered to develop an optimal battery dispatch schedule to reduce electricity costs during peak periods. This will reduce critical loads and reliance on fossil fuel power plants across the power system.
The virtual power plant works by storing the renewable energy generated by large numbers of household rooftop solar panels during the day and then storing this energy during peak periods, such as during CA blackouts in the summer.
Registered battery systems will be discharged daily from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm between August and October, a critical time when California’s energy demand is at its peak. In exchange, customers will receive a $750 upfront payment and a free smart thermostat for participation. Batteries participating in the program retain enough energy to meet an individual’s basic needs during a partial power outage in their area.
Who is Sunrun?
Sunrun Inc. (Nasdaq: RUN ) is a leading U.S. solar energy, battery storage, and residential energy services company. Founded in 2007, Sunrun pioneered residential solar service programs designed to make local clean energy more accessible to all at little upfront cost. Sunrun’s innovative home battery solutions provide affordable, resilient, and reliable power to the home. The company can also manage and share solar energy stored in batteries, delivering benefits to homes, utilities, and the grid while reducing our reliance on polluting energy sources.
Who is PG&E?
PG&E, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people in 70,000 square miles of northern and central California. See pge.com and pge.com/news for more information.
Who can participate in the program?
All Sunrun single-family solar and battery customers who have an interconnection agreement with PG&E and are not participating in other demand response programs are eligible to participate in the program. The program will also provide Sunrun with one year of additional revenue for managing and delivering virtual plant services to the grid, allowing Sunrun and PG&E to grow and expand the program in the coming years.
When will this take effect?
The CPUC approved the program on January 30, 2023. Sunrun will begin enrolling customers in the program shortly, and dispatches will start on August 1, 2023. PG&E customers interested in participating in the program can purchase or lease a Sunrun home solar battery system at www.sunrun.com with no upfront fees and low monthly payments.
Doubts about the program
While some customers support the program, some expressed their concerns. One said the program sounded like a great way to drain batteries so PG&E can charge you during peak rates likening it to the offer PG&E sent to customers for their LG batteries to implement a virtual power plant (VPP). This earlier project was partnered with distributed energy resources (DER) control firm Sunverge Energy and LG electronics and was operational in the first quarter of 2022. Approximately 100 PG&E customers were equipped with LG energy storage batteries, which Sunverrge Energy’s DER control platform will operate, monitor, and optimize. The Reddit account named Jenos00 claims the companies had total control of his batteries but did not pay him extra per kWh. The user claims PG&E still charges him for the off-peak power he would now use with depleted batteries.
Another claim is that there is no incentive to enroll in the program other than to help out PG&E, so offering their batteries to the program is not an option. Some think the utility company uses other people’s systems to make money rather than help people.
Some also suggested that PG&E build a storage infrastructure instead of relying on private individual capital investments. But a customer argued it’s cheaper for the utility to pay customers than to build its new plants.
PG&E and Sunrun’s partnership to enlist home solar and battery systems to provide power during the intervals of rolling blackouts is innovative. However, the effects of this program on the customers’ home batteries are yet to be seen.
If you have questions or are undecided whether adding a home battery is worth it, you can contact DroneQuote to help you decide on the best option suited to your needs. DroneQuote will provide honest feedback and answers to your solar inquiries and expectations.