Get to Know ConnectedSolutions: The New England Energy Storage Game-Changer

Renewable energy sources are always growing in the US, which is fantastic news for our environment. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, we have plenty of clean energy to meet the people’s demand from the grid. But what happens when the sun sets, the wind calms down, and our energy demand outweighs the available energy production?

Normally, utilities need to fire up something called a “peaker plant”. These dirty power plants are designed to deliver energy when an extra boost is required to prevent a blackout. Peaker plants use inefficient gas instead of coal, requiring a wasteful "ramp-up" period just to get started. Not only is this very expensive for the utility companies, but it also emits an enormous amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

So how do batteries save the day? In Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, the ConnectedSolutions program is designed to prevent the need to fire up those dirty peaker plants. When a time of peak demand arises, a ConnectedSolutions “event” is called. During an event, everyone’s battery will discharge its clean green energy back to the grid, all at once, offsetting the surge in energy demand and preventing the need to fire up peaker plants! This reduces carbon emissions, and the good news is the utility will actually pay you for this service.

Now when you have a battery in your home, you own a portion of a “Virtual Power Plant” – a grid asset that, when combined with the power from all the other sonnen batteries in your community, amounts to a utility-scale renewable energy source.

ConnectedSolutions is available to National Grid and Eversource customers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. To learn more about the program, visit our ConnectedSolutions page. sonnen can match you with an elite partner in your area who can customize the right solution for your unique home. 

(Updated from original post on LinkedIn)