Virtual power plants (VPPs) enable entire communities to benefit from a low-cost clean solar energy source coupled with the ability to mitigate the impact of blackouts with grid-independent backup solar power. This is what’s happening now in Houston, Texas, with the installation of a series of first-in-kind residential clean energy projects for renters throughout Texas.

The program deploys innovative community solar and storage VPPs, enabling communities in the region to empower tenants with cost-effective and resilient clean energy. Each VPP provides reliable energy supply to consumers, with financial and environmental benefits; royalty and income streams from energy sales for the real estate partners; and flexible capacity services to the Texas energy market, allowing utilities to leverage previously untapped distributed energy resources to support grid stabilization. This initiative was implemented by PearlX Infrastructure LLC, a flexible energy provider. The project utilizes SolarEdge’s PV systems and cloud-based grid services technology, along with cutting-edge design and engineering capabilities. PearlX finances the VPPs with minimal credit barriers, providing lower and middle-income tenants with access to community solar and storage, making solar an affordable reality for the thousands of tenants subscribing to the VPP systems.

With this initiative, PearlX and SolarEdge are creating a widely replicable, decentralized model that facilitates accelerating the energy transition in Texas, while stabilizing the grid and minimizing the risk of grid failure

Democratizing affordable energy in Texas

A VPP or Virtual Power Plant is a modern way to manage energy and take advantage of available renewable power: multiple users provide energy back to the grid - energy that is then distributed to others. When the South Australian State Government initiated a plan to institute a VPP, SA Power Networks stepped up as the first electricity distribution network to set the dynamic export requirements needed to implement the plan. SolarEdge was chosen for the project, aimed to develop and certify a native dynamic export-compliant system for South Australia. SolarEdge provides the grid with a cloud platform and enables customers with SolarEdge solutions to interact with the platform without requiring additional hardware. The smart inverters in the SolarEdge system can interact with the VPP without the complexity and additional cost of adding third-party controllers. Participating solar customers allow the network operator to remotely update their grid export limits in order to maintain grid stability. Beginning July 2023, the “Smarter Homes Program” for distributed energy, will invite SolarEdge’s residential and small commercial systems in South Australia to take part in stabilizing the grid. While non-participant sites will have 1.5kW fixed export power limits, SolarEdge system owners benefit from export of up to six-times more energy back into the grid for most of the year.

Smart and green energy usage in Japan

Yuuichi Takemoto  
SolarEdge system homeowner, Japan

“The way we use electricity during the day has changed. I used to run the washing machine at night when electricity was cheaper, but now, when the weather is good, I use the electricity generated by solar power for the washing machine and other household appliances, so I use electricity more efficiently during the day. Another change is that I now use a monitor to see the amount of electricity generated and consumed on a daily basis.”

Helping South Australia reach grid stability goals with VPP technology

Storing solar energy in France

Phillipe Cayoux,  
SolarEdge system homeowner,
Pyrenees region, France

“We use 68% of the electricity we generate, which is possible because of the SolarEdge battery that enables us to store energy and use it the day after when there may be less sunlight. We sell our residual electricity to the national electricity company.”

Tenants of a large apartment block in Madrid have installed a communal solar system on their rooftop, aiming to reduce their annual electricity bills. The system uses SolarEdge inverters and Power Optimizers to produce over 60 MWh of clean energy annually, cutting the building's carbon emissions by an estimated 38 metric tons each year. The solar array powers communal areas and offsets a portion of each tenant's personal electricity consumption. The installation features advanced safety technologies, including arc fault detection and SafeDC™, ensuring safe maintenance and emergency access. The apartment block roof is heavily congested with equipment such as air conditioning units and TV satellite dishes. Elevated racking was used to overcome this challenge, thus maximizing energy production and also protecting rooftop equipment.

Madrid apartment block cuts electricity bills with communal rooftop solar technology

In February 2023, SolarEdge launched the first battery powered Virtual Power Plant (VPP), eligible to participate in Great Britain’s National Grid ESO Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) scheme. SolarEdge collaborated with Smart Metering Systems Plc., a leading UK energy infrastructure company, to enable qualified SolarEdge Home Battery customers to earn financial incentives for their stored battery energy.  

During a DFS peak demand event designed to stabilize the grid, participating customers are asked to reduce their electricity consumption during pre-scheduled demand events.

In contrast to homeowners paid by the DFS for manually reducing their energy consumption, SolarEdge Home Battery owners could earn financial incentives without changing their home electricity consumption behavior, but simply by leveraging stored battery energy. Battery owners with an eligible export meter could earn even higher financial incentives by exporting their excess battery power as electricity back into the grid. SolarEdge’s innovative technology automatically optimized the battery charge and discharge, ensuring homeowners earned maximum financial incentives while assisting in stabilizing the grid. In December 2023, SolarEdge announced its renewed participation in the scheme as part of its portfolio of VPPs.

Great Britain VPP helps the British save energy and reduces costs

To meet their goal of generating 100% of the municipality’s electricity supply from renewables, the  Windach Bavaria Municipality in Germany installed a 6.6 MW SolarEdge DC-optimized ground mount solar plant. In the first nine months of operation, the plant generated enough electricity to power around 2,300 homes and saved an estimated 3,200 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The project is headed by Gemeindewerke Windach, the company responsible for municipality-wide energy supply and civil engineering.

As part of the installation process, the entrepreneurs sought local buy-in for the project. They canvassed the opinions of local groups and invited shepherds who had been concerned about land usage to a mutually beneficial arrangement: sheep could graze around the installation. Biodiverse habitats for a variety of wildlife were also created around the solar plant.  

Municipality representatives sought to decentralize energy generation in order to relieve the strain on the grid and create greater scope for heat and electricity storage, which will become increasingly relevant. Florian Zarbo, CEO of Gemeindewerke Windach, explained: "With the recent spike in energy prices, the solar plant is paying for itself even more rapidly than anticipated. However, it would not be what it is without SolarEdge’s cutting-edge technology, able to maximize energy generation, keep maintenance costs tightly under control, and providing the high level of safety that is crucial for a public project such as this.”

Helping Windach, Bavaria meet renewable energy goals

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