Tag Archives: Texas

Texas Is Next State To Get Sunnova Solar + Storage

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Texas is one of the sleeping giants of the solar industry. With it high isolation rates, it’s been predicted that given its way, solar from Texas could actually power the entire country. In other words, it’s a powerhouse waiting to happen.

And now homeowners in the state have the opportunity to put solar + storage at their homes thanks to an expansion by a homegrown solar company that is slowly expanding its national footprint.

Sunnova Energy Corporation announced today the expansion of its Sunnova SunSafe solar plus battery storage service offering to homeowners in the company’s home state of Texas. Sunnova is one of the first residential solar plus storage service providers to offer solar plus battery storage in the Lone Star State. In addition, Sunnova is the only residential solar service provider to offer a 25-year solar plus battery storage contract with a comprehensive warranty and performance guarantee ensuring long-term peace of mind for homeowners.

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“There are two things you should never bet against—adoption of technology and consumer choice. And in Texas we’re seeing that firsthand with the demand of residential solar plus storage. Sunnova’s newly available solar plus battery storage offering provides Texan homeowners with an added layer of energy reliability and freedom that utilities can’t provide,” said William J. (John) Berger, Chief Executive Officer of Sunnova Energy Corporation. “Texas has been the epicenter for transformative energy technologies for years and, as such, it’s only fitting that homeowners across our Lone Star State will play a critical role in our mission to help power energy independence.”

Sunnova’s SunSafe offering in Texas is a customized solar plus battery storage technology system designed to replace much of the energy homeowners normally consume from the electrical grid, day and night. It maximizes the use of the energy produced by the solar system, significantly reducing consumer dependence upon the grid and in some cases eliminating it all together. Unlike solar-only power systems that do not have a battery, it will also continue to produce and store energy when the power grid is down or idle, giving homeowners back-up power for their critical loads.

“In Texas, we’ve seen firsthand the devastation caused by storms and hurricanes, and homeowners across the state want to ensure they’re protecting their families from extended power outages and electricity instability,” said Michael Grasso, Chief Marketing Officer for Sunnova Energy Corporation. “By offering Sunnova SunSafe, homeowners are given that peace of mind knowing that they’ll have reliable energy, day and night.”

In addition to Texas, Sunnova also offers the service in Hawaii, Arizona, California, Puerto Rico and Massachusetts.

IPPs Are Starting To Bet Heavily On The Solar + Storage Game

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

It’s easy to get caught up in a solar + storage discussion that only focuses on batteries – but as independent power producers (IPPs) begin to realize how important solar + storage is going to be in their market, they are quickly realizing the question is far more complex than it seems on the surface.

IPPs like Vistra, for example, just signed a deal with FlexGen, an innovative storage provider that is focusing on adding storage to C&I and utility-scale projects, to design and integrate a 10-megawatt/42-megawatt hour FlexGen energy storage system (ESS) at Upton 2 Solar Power Plant in Texas.

When completed in late 2018, the energy storage system, using FlexGen’s Hybrid OS software, will allow Vistra to store inexpensive solar energy generated during the day and deliver it to customers during evening hours when demand is greatest, improving grid reliability. The lithium-ion energy storage project at Upton 2 will be the largest in Texas, and the seventh largest in the United States.

Vistra is seen to include storage in many more ways going forward especially in markets like New York and California according to their investor’s day presentation. In California alone, Vistra sees the potential of 4.5GW – 8.8GW of energy storage penetration.

With project financing at a premium, finding new and innovative ways to add storage to projects that enhance financing success is the next frontier of the storage race – and IPPs are racing forward into it with wild abandon.

FlexGen, which has been in operation for nearly a decade, is in a position to capitalize on a growing market where consolidation has already taken some of the biggest names off the market. The company has a unique capability to also work on DC-coupled projects, where systems place storage devices between the solar modules and the inverter, instead of the traditional configuration of putting it behind the inverter. It means there are fewer components to install, meaning there are fewer parts to break down. In addition, you eliminate the unnecessary step of converting DC power to AC power (at the inverter) and then back to DC power (at the storage level) and then back to AC to deliver the electricity to the offtaker.

Every storage project is different, based on the market dynamics that create the revenue flow. The solar and power industry is seeing the future is more complicated than calling the lithium manufacturers and having batteries sent to the site. The system, power electronics and software need to work in sync to ensure total life cycle operations match the modeled expectations.