ConEd to combine residential PV, storage in NY into virtual power plant

Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED), or Con Edison, will combine solar-plus-storage systems at over 300 New York homes into a virtual power plant in order to boost the grid's resiliency and reliability.

The utility and SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR) presented the pilot programme today. As part of it they will install over 1.8 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and around 1.8 MW (4 MWh) of battery storage in what is touted as the largest residential distributed energy storage programme in the country.

The qualified homeowners will get a SunPower solar system and a Sunverge Energy battery solution. The solar homes will be reducing both their electricity bills and environmental footprint, while also benefitting from backup power in case of an outage.

Meanwhile, Con Edison will own the energy storage capacities and will link the hundreds of solar-plus-storage systems in one virtual power plant, capable of supplying power to the grid at periods of peak demand. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) integration will provide remote monitoring and control, allowing the company to forecast and optimise the performance and limit the need for non-renewable power sources to meet peak demand.

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