Authored by Bret Biggart
How would you like it if, instead of you sending money to the power company every month, the power company sent money to you?
That’s the idea behind virtual power plants (VPPs), an innovative energy solution that protects people from extreme weather, lowers energy costs, fortifies the power grid, AND turns rooftop solar owners into potential power generators.
Freedom Solar is helping willing customers to sign up for Tesla Electric’s landmark VPP program. Interested? Read on …
What Are Virtual Power Plants?
Think of it as having your own mini power grid at home.
Traditional power plants generate huge amounts of electricity and transmit it over long distances to serve tons of people and businesses. By contrast, VPPs generate power through rooftop solar panels and store it on-site in battery units such as Tesla Powerwalls; advanced systems also use smart devices and software to optimize your energy consumption.
These systems let you generate the energy you need when you need it during the day, and then store the excess to use after the sun goes down — lowering your bills and protecting you from blackouts.
Then, under some conditions and only with your full permission and partnership, excess electricity you’ve generated or stored is sold back to the grid, and you get paid for it.
This groundbreaking technology transforms how energy is generated and distributed, and it makes the power grid smarter, stronger, and more sustainable. It also profoundly changes the ways people interact with their electricity.
Freedom Solar Power believes in helping people take control of their energy future. VPPs do just that.
Why Are Virtual Power Plants Important?
Freedom Solar’s home state of Texas is one of the nation’s leaders in VPPs. That’s partly due to Winter Storm Uri in 2021, the catastrophic statewide freeze that put an essential spotlight on innovations that strengthen the grid and help keep people safe from blackouts.
VPPs emerged as an important solution because they reduce demand on the grid and help keep the lights on, even during a power outage. They also don’t require expensive transmission lines, and they reduce carbon emissions and lower energy costs.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas launched two virtual power plants as part of a pilot project looking at distributed energy resources.
Now, we’re working with Tesla Electric to take the program to the next level.
What Is The Tesla Virtual Power Plant Program?
Freedom Solar is helping interested homeowners with solar and storage systems to sign up for Tesla’s VPP program and get paid for selling energy back to the grid. Participants can earn $400 per year for each enrolled Powerwall, plus additional credits for energy they sell.
The program gives homeowners control of the energy they’re using, storing, and selling. And it’s tailored to ensure they remain safe from blackouts.
You can read more about Tesla Electric’s VPP program here.
What’s Next?
In Texas and across the country, power grids are already straining to meet demand during extreme weather. That demand is going to skyrocket in coming years, and states need to take advantage of solutions that protect people, ease the load on the grid, and provide electricity when people need it.
VPPs do all three, helping people live more powerfully by protecting people and the grid. Want to know more? Give us a call.