SolarCity Launches Utility & Grid Services

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Leading US residential solar company SolarCity has announced a new suite of services intended for utility and grid operators this week.

SolarCity_Solar_Panel_Installation_Van_in_Portland,_Oregon_(19526323073)Specifically, SolarCity will now offer installation, financing, and consulting services for utility-scale solar and energy storage resource development, in addition to advanced controls for demand response, distributed energy resources, and aggregated grid services.

SolarCity is normally in the news for completing various rounds of financing to support its residential solar program. In the last 30 days, SolarCity completed three separate financing agreements — $150 million with Credit Suisse, and $188 million with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and another unnamed investor, and a $227 million transaction with John Hancock Financial.

However, as SolarCity explains, the cost of solar energy systems has begun to fall below the costs of traditional fossil fuel generation, meaning that “it’s time to turn to a better source of energy” — which has opened the door for SolarCity to begin providing “renewable energy solutions for utilities.”

SolarCity already has several utilities using their services through existing partnerships. The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) previously worked with SolarCity to install a 12 megawatt (AC) utility-scale solar array, and earlier this year it was announced that it would again be teaming with SolarCity to install a 52 MWh battery system. SolarCity is also working with the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC) to deploy 13 MW of solar together with 6 MWh of battery storage across a portfolio of sites throughout Connecticut. Southern California Edison is also partnering with SolarCity for a pilot project to demonstrate the value of aggregated DER portfolios.

In its press release announcing the turn to utility-solar, SolarCity provided a run-down of the three new services it will be offering:

Utility-Scale Solar – SolarCity launched its development of utility-scale solar power plants as an alternative to traditional fossil fuel generators. Utilities looking for additional generation capacity, or a solution to meet renewable portfolio standards and other environmental mandates, can leverage turn-key delivery of solar power via wholesale contracts and direct grid tied solar power systems. SolarCity manages the entire process from financing and design to installation, advanced controls and optimization, and system maintenance. Utilizing solar energy typically costs far less than building traditional generation assets, and solar energy rates are locked in for years into the future, protecting the utility and customers from volatile fuel prices.

Dispatchable Utility-Scale Energy Storage – As a complement to solar power, SolarCity now offers firm and dispatchable utility-scale storage solutions. Our capacity services offering combines solar and energy storage to intelligently take advantage of affordable solar power when it’s needed most. Together, solar and storage can help utilities avoid capacity charges and manage peak load more cost effectively than traditional fossil fuel-based solutions.

Distributed Energy Solutions – SolarCity’s portfolios of aggregated distributed energy resources (DERs) offer grid planners and operators increased flexibility and resiliency as they work to modernize the grid. DER portfolios can provide grid services such as dynamic capacity and peak shaving, flexible ramping, frequency regulation, voltage and reactive power support, grid visibility and more, all managed throughSolarCity’s software and control platform. In addition, DER portfolios can offer increased reliability and resiliency by deploying energy storage to provide backup power during routine outages.


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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