Generac Grid Services, a subsidiary of Generac Power Systems and PosiGen, a residential solar, energy efficiency, and energy education provider for low- to moderate-income residents, announced they will expand access to clean energy storage through a new program that offers battery backup and load-management systems to residents. The program will also provide power back to the electrical grid, helping to increase grid stability, while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
PosiGen said the customer fees for this offering will be nominal.
“We are offering our battery storage customers a low-cost, long-term lease, modeled on PosiGen’s existing approach to delivering solar plus energy efficiency to LMI customers,” said Ben Healey, chief commercial officer at PosiGen.
Through the program, which will be facilitated by Generac Grid Services, PosiGen’s solar customers in Connecticut will be able to obtain a Generac PWRcell battery and Generac PWRmanager load management system to pair with existing solar panels, to provide power to customers’ homes when the grid goes down. Additionally, when tied to the grid and not providing backup power to the home, the PWRcell battery can be configured to provide up to 18 kWh of usable energy back to the grid to help manage peak demand. Generac Grid Services will manage and optimize each battery’s contribution to the grid, using its Concerto distributed energy resource control platform.
“Over the last few years, PosiGen has served thousands of low- and moderate-income homeowners in Connecticut, providing rooftop solar and energy efficiency measures to help them save money and upgrade the comfort and efficiency of their homes,” said Tom Neyhart, CEO of PosiGen. “But resiliency via battery backup has historically been out of reach. Now, in partnership with Generac, we can deliver a truly holistic package that will support this traditionally underserved population when weather events disrupt the grid, while also delivering tremendous ongoing value to the grid as a whole.”
Generac Grid Services and PosiGen intend to replicate the program across the country where there are favorable incentive structures and a strong interest in helping low- to moderate-income customers gain power resiliency.
“This is an exciting new model that brings all the right players together to provide an outstanding experience for customers of modest means,” said Bud Vos, president of Generac Grid Services. “Our goal is that many more people in our region will experience the comfort and peace of mind that comes with having a resilient — and clean — source of power.”
Generac Grid Services works with utilities to develop effective energy storage solution (ESS) programs that provide the incentives required to support this unique offer, potentially including both including upfront and performance-based incentives and integration with existing programs. In this pilot, Generac will work with the Connecticut Energy Storage Solutions program, a state program that helps customers install energy storage at their home or business.
“The CT ESS program and its focus on paying for distributed value delivered to the grid, combined with Generac’s hardware and asset management capabilities, are what enable us to make this offer work, and we frankly expect demand to be significant and drive meaningful investment in growing this program for PosiGen,” said PosiGen’s Healey.
Additionally, Generac Grid Services and PosiGen will work jointly to raise customer awareness of the program. In particular, PosiGen anticipates offering this new solution to its entire installed base of customers across the state of Connecticut, with an immediate focus on those living in underserved cities and towns, while incorporating the product going forward as a recommended option for every new solar system it installs in the state.
