A Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is one or more home batteries working together in coordination with your energy retailer. VPP coordination is software-based and retailers may only work with certain brands of battery. When a home allows their battery to be used for VPP purposes, the stored energy can be used to support the grid when it needs more power. Households receive a premium payment / tariff for the offer of doing so. Virtual Power Plants are charged by solar panels during sunlight hours, and discharge the stored energy into the night.
Virtual Power Plant Cost Savings
A Virtual Power Plant usually offers higher solar feed-in-tariffs (FiT) by agreement with an electricity retailer. This ongoing financial incentive can help reduce the pay-back period of a battery. When a home combines an offset of their electricity with high solar feed-in-credits, a battery can save costs on two fronts for the customer. A properly designed battery system, may generate credits which may be returned as actual cash. Ask your system designer about expectations.
How Does a VPP Work?
When you have a compatible system for a VPP your first steps to energy independence begin! Your solar panels charge the DC or AC battery and store the energy in your home for personal use. The inverter connects to your electricity retailers software. The software app will usually give an overview of the solar production, battery capacity, home electricity, and whats going to/from the grid. Excess solar is sold to the grid when your battery is fully charged. Additionally, during a “network event”, owners may be asked if they would like to discharge their stored energy. Owners are paid at or close to the electricity wholesale rate.
How does a VPP perform?
Iconic Solar has an example Solar and Battery system established to help people understand connecting a battery to your home. This weekly summary of a residential Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a good overview to see battery performance in Wollongong NSW. The solar battery system is a fair measure of performance for a single phase home.
Check our latest Blog posts covering battery performance below:
- Virtual Power Plant Performance 24/10/22 – 30/10/22
- Virtual Power Plant Performance 17/10/22 – 23/10/22
- Virtual Power Plant Performance 10/10/22 – 16/10/22
Want to see if Iconic Solar can help you on your next solar or battery project? Get in touch with us by phone or look us up on Facebook or Instagram.
Engineering is our first priority and we will build a solution that is right for you.