US residential solar firm Sunrun is to aggregate 300 domestic solar-plus-storage installations into a single virtual power plant (VPP), claiming it to be one of the US’ first residential VPPs.

The project, to be launched in partnership with utility Southern California Edison (SCE), will pose as a demonstration project for solar-plus-storage systems to run as a VPP, featuring aggregated generation and storage capacity.

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Between now and the middle of 2021, up to 200 of Sunrun’s Brightbox solar-plus-storage packages will be networked and provide peaking capacity to SCE’s managed grid. The systems will also be used to provide backup power in the result of grid outages and demonstrate the broader benefits of using VPPs to aid decarbonisation.

“As we continue to decarbonise the power grid it is essential that we find innovative solutions enabling clean, affordable and reliable service. The Virtual Power Plant will help us understand how home battery systems can perform similar to single large capacity energy sources to benefit all customers,” SCE’s senior VP for customer service, Jill Anderson, said.

For more detail on the project and the potential for solar-plus-storage VPPs in the US, visit our sister publication Energy-Storage.news.

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