AutoGrid, a company that provides flexible management software for the energy industry, has entered a partnership with Sunrun Inc. to provide AutoGrid Flex Virtual Power Plant (VPP) software to help manage Sunrun’s growing fleet of residential batteries across the U.S.
Under the partnership, Sunrun will use features of the AutoGrid Flex platform to help manage its fleet of Brightbox rechargeable solar batteries and offer grid services and energy management solutions. The cloud-based platform enhances Sunrun’s ability to work with utilities and other electricity providers to optimize and dispatch its storage fleet for the maximum economic benefit of both customers and the grid.
“Rooftop solar and batteries are helping households power through uncertainty. AutoGrid will enhance our capabilities to offer utilities an aggregated fleet of home solar and battery resources to make the electric grid cleaner and more resilient – while reducing costs for all energy consumers,” says Lynn Jurich, CEO and co-founder of Sunrun.
Sunrun is committed to transitioning to a cleaner, more resilient and local electricity system by using rooftop solar and residential batteries to extend grid services to electric utilities and other energy providers. In May, Sunrun announced that the company maintains $50 million in grid services revenue that’s been either contracted or in the pipeline, with projects in New England, California and Hawaii.
These grid services revenues not only help lower the cost of energy storage systems for customers, but they also help lower the overall cost of operating the grid by avoiding and deferring expensive infrastructure upgrades and reducing the need to purchase cost-prohibitive peak power. This benefits all electric consumers, including those who are not directly participating in these programs, and significantly reduces the usage of fossil fuel power plants.
Photo: AutoGrid’s Autogrid Virtual Power Plant web page