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Virtual power plants enable ordinary ratepayers to get breaks on their utility bills by shunting electricity to the grid from their solar panels, or their home energy storage units, or both. The VPP movement emerged just a few years ago and it has already caught fire. The latest example comes from the solar and storage financing specialist SOLRITE Energy. The company has just added a battery-only option to its VPP portfolio, enabling households without rooftop solar panels to participate in a VPP.
Look Ma, No Solar
SOLRITE announced its new battery-only option on February 11. The program provides ratepayers with an opportunity to install a home energy storage from SOLRITE’s partner sonnen (a fully owned subsidiary of Shell) with no up-front costs, enabling them to enter into a virtual power plant agreement and start saving money on their monthly bills from the get-go. The cost is $20.00 per month, plus a per-kilowatt-hour rate of 12¢ for the electricity they use.
SOLRITE and sonnen have already attracted 3,000 customers in Texas to their rooftop solar-plus-storage VPA. That arrangement, which also involves a partnership with Abundance Energy and Energywell Technology Licensing, surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar last April. “SOLRITE owns the batteries and plays an active role in the VPP model, taking the lead on customer acquisition and installation, and owns and manages the solar and energy storage assets,” SOLRITE says of its role in the collaboration.
SOLRITE and sonnen expect that the offer of a battery-only VPA will add many more customers to their list. “With the addition of the battery-only offer, by the end of 2026, SOLRITE and sonnen expect to sign up to 10,000 new customers on the VPA program, providing 600 MWh of dispatchable, flexible energy to the Texas energy system,” SOLRITE explains.
At this time the program is only available in Texas and it is limited to customers of eligible utilities serving the cities of Houston, Corpus Christi and McAllen. Also, the actual savings will depend on the customer’s consumption habits and their local utility rate. Still, the 12¢/kWh rate stacks up nicely against electricity costs in Texas, where the average residential customer paid just over 16¢/kWh as of last November according to the US Energy Information Agency.
Home Energy Storage Steps Into The Spotlight
As described by Blake Richetta, the CEO and Chair of sonnen USA, VPPs have elevated home energy storage from an afterthought to a mature grid asset.
“SOLRITE’s new ‘Battery-Only’ VPA product in Texas represents a major milestone for the growing VPP market in America. 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 60kWh of backup power for the end-user customer,” Richetta added.
“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,” he emphasized.
Solving The Solar Orphan Problem
In addition to providing VPP access to households without rooftop solar panels, SOLRITE also anticipates that energy storage can solve the “solar orphan” problem in Texas. Solar orphan is SOLRITE’s term for a quirk in the Texas market, in which tens of thousands of rooftop solar owners have been cut off from opportunities to sell their excess electricity back to the grid. “We refer to these folks as ‘Solar Orphans,’ as they are left on the hook to continue to pay their Solar PPA production payments or loan payments for years to come, despite no longer being compensated for their constant daily solar injection into the grid,” SOLRITE explains (PPA referrs to the power purchase agreements that enable homeowners to install solar panels with no up-front payments).
With the new VPA, solar orphans can resume collecting revenue from their solar panels by shunting it through a BESS. “The harnessed solar, stored in sonnen batteries, will be focused on energizing the home during peak demand periods throughout the daily cycle, effectively synchronizing with the rhythm of the grid,” SOLRITE explains.
So, What About The Powerwall?
Of course, no story about home energy storage is complete without a mention of Tesla’s much touted Powerwall home energy storage unit. The Tesla Powerwall celebrated its 1 millionth sale globally just a few months ago, in September, even as cracks continued to spread through the once-invincible wall of the Tesla brand name.
The SOLRITE/sonnen connection isn’t the only home energy storage competition to surface. The startup Lunar Energy, is marketing an AI-forward home energy system for use in VPPs. According to Lunar, its customers save more money from their VPP compared to those with standard energy storage systems.
Then there’s the Ford Motor Company. Responding to the desires of the 77 million American citizens who voted US President Donald Trump into office for a second time, last fall the iconic US automaker announced that it is rolling up its EV welcome mat, at least until the members of the voting public change get another crack at sending a new president to the White House.
In the meantime, Ford does not intend to let its EV-related energy storage learnings go to waste. In December, Ford announced that it is launching the new Ford Energy division, dedicated to the business of utility scale and residential BESS (battery energy storage systems). In January, the company tapped Lisa Drake to lead the charge as its president.
“Ford Energy allows us to maximize the value of our battery manufacturing capabilities,” explained Drake in a press statement. “We’re building a business focused first on utility-scale battery energy storage systems for large customers while also offering battery cells for residential energy storage solutions.”
That’s…interesting. Trump will leave office as scheduled on January 20, 2029 — peacefully this time, one hopes. In the meantime, Ford will keep its EV battery manufacturing capacity to use, enabling the company to slap its familiar, friendly-looking blue oval on home energy storage units all across the country.
In contrast, the Tesla logo has taken upon the appearance of a dagger through the heart of American democracy. Hide your kids, hide your wives! Tesla CEO Elon Musk was once famous for saving the planet with electric cars and now he is infamous for lots of other things including a connection with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Thoughts? Drop a note in the discussion thread if you’re in the market for a new BESS.
Photo: The US startup SOLRITE is opening up a new energy storage opportunity for residential ratepayers to participate in money-saving VPPs, whether or not they have rooftop solar panels (cropped, courtesy of SOLRITE).
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