Dive Brief:
- Arizona Public Service has selected Sunverge Energy for a storage pilot project that includes the company's Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS), which it says can predict both load and solar generation.
- Sunverge has also been selected by Lakeland Electric and Green Mountain Power in Vermont to utilize its advanced, intelligent storage systems and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) platform.
- In Arizona, APS will deploy a fleet of Sunverge One energy storage units, linked with Home Energy Management Systems, to deliver more reliable load shapes, increase customer savings, and optimize distributed resources.
Dive Insight:
Between Arizona, Vermont and Florida, Sunverge will run pilot programs to reveal the value of residential storage under a variety of conditions and in varying climes.
"These three utilities join dozens of others that are exploring how aggregated distributed energy resources, including storage, can deliver improved customer value and new grid services,” Sunverge CEO Martin Milani said in a statement. In particular, he said the APS solar study "provides a glimpse into the future of the grid," where energy supply and demand is balanced home by home, while still maintaining comfort.
The APS study will compare homes with solar and energy storage, to homes with solar, storage and HEMS, and homes with solar and HEMS but no storage. APS intends to begin deploying the Sunverge energy storage systems in the greater Phoenix area beginning in December.
The pilot program is one of a handful APS is testing for its residential sector. The utility is also examining incentives for smart thermostats and water heater timers, to name a few, in its efforts to boost grid flexibility.
More utilities nationwide are following suit, as shown by Green Mountain Power and Lakeland Electric. The GMP pilot will study the Sunverge system’s ability to accommodate high loads during an outage. Sunverge said the project enabled Green Mountain Power to evaluate options for all Vermont residents, and test software for advanced virtual power plant functions.
In Florida, Lakeland Electric is installing a system at a commercial site to demonstrate the ability for energy storage to help shave a customer’s peak demand behind-the-meter and to serve as a tool to support the grid. The pilot allows the utility to better understand how distributed energy storage can be utilized to support both customers and the grid.
Installed distributed energy resources in the United States, including distributed generation, energy storage, microgrids, EVs, and demand response, will reach more than 288 GW in 2024, according to findings from Navigant Research.
