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Title: Virtual Power Plants: Where Home Batteries are Saving Americans from
Blackouts

Link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/08/16/...

Puerto Rico expects 93 different power outages this summer, reports the
Washington Post. But they also note that "roughly 1 in 10 Puerto Rican homes
now have a battery and solar array for backup power" which have also "become
a crucial source of backup power for the entire island grid." A network of
69,000 home batteries can generate as much electricity as a small natural gas
turbine during an emergency, temporarily covering about 2 percent of the
island's energy needs when things go wrong... "It has very, very certainly
prevented more widespread outages," said Daniel Haughton, [transmission and
distribution planning director for Puerto Rico's grid operator]. "In the
instances that we had to [cut power], it was for a much shorter duration: A
four-hour outage became a one- or two-hour outage." Puerto Rico's experience
offers a glimpse into the future for the rest of the United States, where
batteries are starting to play a big role in keeping the lights on.
Authorities in Texas, California and New England have credited home batteries
with preventing blackouts during summer energy crunches. As power grids
across the country groan under the increasing strain of new data centers,
factories and EVs, batteries offer a way for homeowners to protect themselves
- and all of their neighbors - from the threat of outages. Batteries have
been booming in the U.S. since 2022, when Congress created generous
installation tax credits for homeowners and power companies. Home batteries
generally come as an option alongside rooftop solar panels, according to
Christopher Rauscher, head of grid services and electrification for Sunrun, a
company that installs both. More than 70 percent of the people who hire
Sunrun to put up solar panels also get a battery. With the tax credits - and
the money saved on rising electricity costs - solar panels and batteries make
financial sense for most American homes, according to a study Stanford
University scientists published Aug. 1. About 60 percent of homes would save
money in the long run with solar panels and batteries... Those batteries can
have broader benefits, too. Utilities pay customers hundreds of dollars a
year to sign their batteries up to form "virtual power plants," which send
electricity to the grid whenever power plants can't keep up with demand.
California's network of home batteries can now add 535 megawatts of
electricity in an emergency - about half as much energy as a nuclear power
plant... [H]omeowners can make thousands of dollars a year lowering their
energy bills, selling solar power back to the grid or enrolling their
batteries in a virtual power plant, depending on their power company's
policies and state regulations. "Over time, you would get the full payback
for your system and basically get your backup for free," said Ram Rajagopal,
an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering who co-authored
the Stanford study.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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