On the hottest afternoons this summer, thousands of internet-connected thermostats, home solar panels and battery systems helped reduce the strain on the electric grid. These "virtual power plants" may be a key part of the future of electricity.
We have solar & batteries, and are signed up with this program under National Grid. As I’m writing this I see our home and 1200 others are currently pumping 9 megawatts back into the grid. That’s pretty darned impressive, and means National Grid doesn’t have to spin up temporary generators during these peak events. And we’ll get paid roughly 8-12x the going rate for all the kWh we provide throughout the summer. Given our panels generate enough electricity to power our house as well as fully recharge our batteries were more than happy to provide our surplus back to the grid at such a premium rate.
We have solar & batteries, and are signed up with this program under National Grid. As I’m writing this I see our home and 1200 others are currently pumping 9 megawatts back into the grid. That’s pretty darned impressive, and means National Grid doesn’t have to spin up temporary generators during these peak events. And we’ll get paid roughly 8-12x the going rate for all the kWh we provide throughout the summer. Given our panels generate enough electricity to power our house as well as fully recharge our batteries were more than happy to provide our surplus back to the grid at such a premium rate.