Evaluating the best residential time-of-use rate schedules in California for energy storage
Homeowners are installing energy storage systems (ESS) in their homes for different reasons. The residential energy storage market is continuing to ramp up on a hockey-stick shaped growth trajectory. According to Wood Mackenzie’s Q3 2018 U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report, the residential segment added 57.5 MWh of storage capacity nationwide last quarter, which is more than the 39.8 MWh installed all last year. The report also shows that California continues to be the leading state for storage deployments in the residential sector.
WEBINAR: California Residential Storage Market Updates
Summary: This webinar reviews where the California residential energy storage market stands today and the updates that are being made to encourage storage throughout the state. Agenda: Overview – Energy Toolbase – 2:05 Resi storage motivations – 4:44 SGIP program data & updates – 6:36 SB 700 summary & updates – 15:22 Ranking: best residential […]
Residential Solar Companies: Now’s the Time to get in the (Energy Storage) Game
After a lot of hype and false starts in the residential energy storage market, things are starting to get real. Recent data definitively shows that storage installation volumes are ramping up in the residential segment. According to GTM Research’s latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report, residential storage grew 248 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, measured in total megawatts installed. In terms of the number of residential grid-tied storage systems deployed, GTM Research counted 914 in all of 2016, which compares to 2017’s deployments of: 255 systems in Q1, 486 in Q2, 810 in Q3, and 1,516 in Q4.
IRS Issues Ruling on the ITC Eligibility of Residential Energy Storage Retrofits
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a private letter ruling (PLR) related to tax credit eligibility when retrofitting an energy storage system onto a home with an existing solar PV system. The PLR determined that a retrofitted storage system would in fact qualify for a 30% federal investment tax credit (ITC), “under code 25D(d)(2) as a qualified solar electric property expenditure”, assuming that the battery charges entirely from the solar system.
Our SGIP Incentives are Live on the Platform
The Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) provides financial incentives for the installation of new, qualifying technologies including energy storage, wind power, fuel cells, combined heat & power and others. It was big news when the program relaunched in the spring of 2017, with a re-upped program budget that was earmarked primarily for customer-sited Energy Storage Systems (ESS).
Future-Proofing Solar PV Savings with Energy Storage
Energy storage has been called a “swiss army knife” because it’s highly versatile, adaptable and can provide many different types of benefits to the grid. This flexibility can be financially rewarding. For example, when storage is deployed in behind-the-meter (BTM) applications, it can be programmed to target different value streams, like ‘peak-demand shaving’, ‘time-of-use arbitrage’, or ‘self-consumption’. These ‘value streams’ are effectively different ways for an energy storage system (ESS) to make money by reducing a customer’s utility bill.
Energy Toolbase Launches New Software Update that Enables Users to Model Energy Storage Projects
Energy Toolbase, a software platform for modeling the economics of solar and energy storage projects, recently launched a major software update that revolutionizes the platform’s energy storage modeling capabilities. The new release enables users to transparently quantify the dollar savings for any type of behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage project. This empowers developers in both the residential and commercial market to identify the best storage use-cases, more efficiently focus their development resources, and close deals.
New Hampshire PUC Makes Cuts to Net Metering Program
The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued a new order, making cuts to the state’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) program. The order maintains full retail credit for monthly net excess generation for supply but will no longer give credit for non-bypassable charges (NBC’s) like the system benefits charge. The decision removes the existing NEM caps and offers grandfathering to current customers.
How Much Can a Residential Energy Storage Project Actually Save?
It may be surprising to know that a significant portion of California homeowners buying energy storage systems today are not doing so to save money. In other words, they are not trying to reduce their utility bill or get a return on investment, like they do from a rooftop solar system. Instead, most storage systems today are being bought and sold based on the promise of back-up power or energy independence from the utility. The primary reason for this is that the avoided cost opportunity for residential storage today is not very substantial. On most residential utility rate schedules, energy storage does not have the ability to significantly reduce the utility bill. Therefore, it’s not the core value proposition being sold today.
A Sales Platform for Energy Storage Projects
We’re excited about the upcoming launch of our energy storage software update. This new release is the culmination of a lot of learning for us. We have been planning this new build for a year and our engineering team has been developing it over the last several months. We are incorporating a lot of product feedback from energy storage manufacturers and developers who have been using our application over the last couple of years.