Southern california solar container virtual power plant

What is a virtual power plant?

But it was the largest test of its kind ever done in California—and maybe the world. What’s a Virtual Power Plant? A virtual power plant is a network of small energy sources—like home batteries—that work together to support the electric grid. Instead of one big power station, it’s thousands of little ones, all coordinated by software.

What is a virtual power plant (VPP)?

For two hours, this “virtual power plant” (VPP) delivered 535 megawatts of electricity to the grid. That’s enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes during peak demand. This wasn’t a blackout. It wasn’t an emergency. It was a test. But it was the largest test of its kind ever done in California—and maybe the world.

Does SCE offer a virtual power plant?

Through agreements with AutoGrid, Generac, SunPower, Sunrun and Swell Energy, up to 1,500 residents who live in SCE’s service area can sign up to be part of a network, or virtual power plant, which were approved by the California Public Utilities Commission earlier this year to further enhance grid reliability.

How will California's rising rate hikes affect solar and energy storage?

With California’s growing rate hikes, initiatives like Calready will likely see healthy growth in the coming years. This will force more Californians to turn to solar and energy storage to help with their bills. By the end of last year, over 60% of new Sunrun customers added battery storage to their solar systems.