Ontario Utility to Pilot Virtual Power Plant

Vaughan, ON-based PowerStream has received funding from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)’s Conservation Fund to pilot a virtual power plant using residential solar-storage technology with 20 residential customers. The project will evaluate the customer, conservation, grid and utility business benefits of these integrated solar-storage systems.

Rooftop solar panels and systems that provide battery-stored power during periods of peak demand will be installed in 20 homes at the outset of the pilot project. All the units will be managed together by the utility to create a virtual power plant. PowerStream is conducting the project with San Francisco-based Sunverge Energy. The company makes the Sunverge Solar Integration System (SIS), a distributed energy storage and management appliance composed of storage batteries, power electronics, and system-management software. The system will allow PowerStream to manage the solar panels as if they were a larger solar energy or energy storage facility, except the power will be distributed at the point of load.

Participating customers will receive a 5 kW solar array, 11.4 kWh lithium-ion battery, 6.8 kW inverter, a bi-directional meter and remote access to an energy management system that will allow them to monitor the system at their own convenience. PowerStream is finalizing the details of the project and the offer, which will be made available to customers sometime in the next few weeks.

Find out more: http://blog.powerstream.ca/2015/09/powerstream-offer-unique-residential-solar-storage-program/