SOLRITE Energy has established a new virtual power plant (VPP) offer in the Texas ERCOT market with sonnen.
Up to 60 kWh of sonnen energy storage per home can be included on the VPP agreement (VPA), receiving a 12¢ per kWh “all-in” retail energy rate, all for a $20 per month fee. The SOLRITE sonnen Battery VPA offer is restricted to Texas “de-regulated utilities,” including Houston, Corpus Christi and McAllen.
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“SOLRITE’s new battery-only VPA product in Texas represents a major milestone for the growing VPP market in America,” said Blake Richetta, Chairman and CEO of sonnen Inc. USA. “Finally, the value of the VPP battery stands entirely on its own as a dispatchable grid balancing solution, by way of a deep grid services value stack, either added to an existing solar array or absent of solar entirely. It is through the robust VPP grid services value stack that the battery monetizes, enabling the extraordinary 12¢ per kWh retail rate and 60 kWh of backup power for the end-user customer. For $20 per month, this 60-kWh product is affordable for most Texas families. With this product, the vast majority of the cost of the VPP node is not shouldered by the end user, but is instead paid for by the Texas energy system for value delivered.”
Retail electricity contracts in Texas typically last anywhere from 12 to 36 months. Compensation for solar injection into the grid, also known as a “Solar Buy-Back” in Texas, is offered as a component of certain retail electricity plans. At the end of any specific electricity contract, retail electric providers in Texas are not obligated to continue to offer a customer a Solar Buy-Back plan, as part of a new retail electricity contract. Therefore, in Texas, especially over time, it has become more difficult for retail electric providers to pay near-retail prices for solar injection, resulting in Solar Buy-Backs gradually becoming less and less available in the market, leaving tens of thousands of solar customers with a “stranded” solar array.
These “solar orphans” are left on the hook to continue paying their solar PPA production payments or loan payments, despite no longer being compensated for their constant daily solar injection to the grid. The SOLRITE sonnen battery-only VPA offering allows orphaned solar customers to gain compensation with their stored energy in a battery.
“Many Texans who invested in rooftop solar have been left disappointed as shrinking buy-back programs and unpredictable retail plans eroded the savings they were promised,” explained Regan George, CEO and Founder of SOLRITE Energy. “Our new battery-only VPA, powered by 60 kWh of sonnen storage, gives those homeowners a way to capture and use their own energy for real value.”
Ratepayers who do not wish to or cannot install on-site rooftop solar can also sign up for the battery-only VPA, while benefiting from the 60 kWh of backup power, as well as the extremely attractive 12¢ per kWh all-in retail electricity rate from SOLRITE-sonnen retail partner, Abundance Energy. With a grid balancing capacity far exceeding that of solar + battery VPP nodes, pure sonnen battery nodes — with no rooftop solar — can function as a dispatchable load during times of excess generation in the grid. This innovative solution provides a form of reverse demand response for the grid, absorbing excess energy generated during low demand periods and shifting it to meet customer needs during peak periods of high grid congestion, effectively acting as a large, coordinated grid load shift.
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