Electricity retailers purchase energy from the grid and on-sell it to you when you need it. They pay the current wholesale rate at the moment you use power. This is often relatively cheap, and your retailer marks this up and charges you accordingly. Sometimes though, the wholesale electricity rate increases by more than 2 to 50 times the normal rate. This is due to a massive increase in demand (imagine air conditioners all running on a hot day), and not enough energy supply being available in the grid at that moment.
Our virtual power plant technology allows you to access this same wholesale market during those high demand periods. We simply take control of your battery (which we design and install for you), and sell any extra power out that we believe you won't need in the short term. This nets you additional profit on your solar battery system, thus significantly improving your return on investment and putting money back in your pocket faster.
The concept is simple. First we will assess your energy usage and design and appropriately sized solar and battery system for you. In the design process, we will focus on ensuring that we generate and store enough power to sustain all of your homes energy needs now and moving into the future. This is so that you can stand on your own two feet and never need to rely on an energy company again. Fundamentally, if we do this part right you will be on track to achieving a great return on your investment from the start.
Then the magic of the virtual power plant (VPP) kicks in. Using AI and machine learning algorithms, our VPP looks at your energy usage patterns and also at the wholesale electricity market. When the wholeprice of electricity reaches a high enough point, we will automatically trigger a discharge of energy from your battery to sell on your behalf back into the grid at the high rate. This rate can be anywhere from $0.35 all the way up to $50+. Keep in mind, we will never take more than you will need from your battery.
Sometimes, the price of power actually goes negative. We also take advantage of this by charging your battery for free during these periods of time provided that your battery is not already full.