Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Companies Are Using California Homes As Batteries To Power the Grid (qz.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the sunshine-state dept.

"Companies like Tesla and SunRun are starting to bid on utility contracts that would allow them to string together dozens or hundreds of systems that act as an enormous reserve to balance the flow of electricity on the grid," reports Quartz. "Doing so would accelerate the grid's transformation from 20th century hub-and-spoke architecture to a transmission network moving electricity among thousands or millions of customers who generate and store their own power." From the report: In theory, networked home-solar-and-battery systems, acting in coordination over a single geographical area, could replace things like natural gas "peaker" plants need to help support the grid on a moment's notice. But it's an open question whether it makes financial sense. Kamath says renewable mandates could keep home solar-storage solutions for the grid going for a while, but the idea will have to prove itself on the market, perhaps by aggregating large areas, if it wants to seriously compete with existing energy assets.

SunRun told investors in 2017 that its pilot programs suggest it could competitively generate $2,000 worth of services by managing electricity flow back to the grid. The company has recently dropped its combative stance with utilities dragging their feet on accepting home solar. Instead, it's pursuing cooperation with the utilities now, in hopes of selling them home-based power. That would allow it grab a chunk of the billions being spent on modernizing the grid. "We don't want to be in a position of building two competing infrastructures," SunRun's Jurich said.

4 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Not sure if this is a good idea... by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A big part of me is afraid this will simply game the market rather than add predictability to pricing, although that is arguably is inevitable. I would much prefer a rate sheet that is easier to understand the implications of use in order to better allow proactive demand-side management. Too many things are grossly inefficient with reactive load management.

    But, I don’t know an easy solution to the current ramp-rate profile without batteries and punitive rate structures.

    1. Re:Not sure if this is a good idea... by Freischutz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The problem is that power generation and distribution is a natural monopoly. There's only one set of wires going to the consumer.

      Politicians try to dress that up and provide competition but the underlying reality is that's just more middlemen taking a cut - usually with a % going back to said politicians. Best you can do is run it as a monopoly in which case you don't get those stupid peak charges and you can do sane long term capacity planning. Admitted that does assume a well run monopoly but it can work.

      It is a monopoly unless and until the consumer makes his/her own electricity and stores it in his/her own battery wall. At that point you get a very competitive industry where many providers of solar panel packages, wind generators and battery walls compete to sell their products wherever they can market it which is pretty much anywhere that has a road network.

    2. Re:Not sure if this is a good idea... by AHuxley · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What could go wrong.
      Buy solar for the roof.
      Its free solar all day.
      Have city inspect the solar and the grid power company accept extra power.
      Buy a big battery.
      Have the battery inspected, approved and connected.
      Buy energy at consumer prices.
      Get a set low rate to sell solar back to the grid. Solar power not used is a credit for coupons, discounts, a very low set price?
      Sell "extra" battery power back at what the "free" market will pay.
      After all the big spending and not been paid much for the extra power every year the user will be in profit when?
      Pay back that solar and the big battery.
      The big battery last how many years of power in and out?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    3. Re:Not sure if this is a good idea... by Freischutz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      When we reach a point where disconnecting from the grid becomes feasible things will get interesting. Neighbors interconnecting, building micro grids with a single connection to the national one, and only wanting to pay one service fee for the whole group.

      That is the plan in parts of Europe and that is what some people in Puerto Rico would like to do. That is also why the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner, Republican heavyweights and representatives of the fossil fuel industry are hard at work drawing up plans for Puerto Rico to become a 'fossil fuel energy hub' for the entire Caribbean. What are you willing to bet that aid payments to rebuild Puerto Rico's energy infrastructure will be conditional on them being spent on fossil fuel power plants backed up by anti renewables legislation and the forced privatisation of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority? I particularly love this quote by Rob Bishop, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee: "Energy to Puerto Rico ... is going to have to be imported. Natural gas would be a brilliant way to do that.”. In Puerto Rico it's sunny about 65% of daylight hours. This bozo takes one look at that and concludes the only viable way of generating energy in a country that close to the equator which get that much sun is to import natural gas.