The program allows Utah homeowners with existing solar installations to upgrade their system to include a grid interactive smart sonnen battery designed to harness solar and harmonize it with greater grid operation. Key benefits for customers include a substantially higher upfront Wattsmart Battery incentive from RMP, an annual bill credit for grid services, proactive backup power, lower CO2 emissions and dependability.
ES Solar has already sold an unprecedented 18 MWh of sonnen retrofit energy storage systems via the Go Back initiative within the greater Wattsmart Program in Utah. The Company estimates that more than 75% of its 2024 sales are via the Go Back Program, resulting in 200-500 sonnen battery installations in Utah each month.
RMP, a pioneer among utilities in the VPP field, enables ES Solar and other solar contractors interested in selling the Wattsmart Go Back program with the opportunity to sell a superior upfront incentive due to the enhanced value that “firming” existing solar has to the energy system.
RMP is a national leader in the field of authentic battery VPP implementation. RMP is also the only vertically-integrated utility in the U.S. that has directly integrated their specialized behind-the-meter battery VPP into their grid operating system, without a distributed energy resources management system (DERMS) solution in the middle, while dispatching the battery fleet every day, deploying up to eight genuine grid services that are focused on electrochemical energy storage technology.
The RMP Wattsmart Distributed Battery Grid Management System (DBGMS) VPP has now grown to over 40MWh of energy capacity, a substantial portion of which was sold by ES Solar.
RMP customers who installed solar prior to Sept. 1, 2021 may qualify for an upfront incentive of $600/kW on their battery system by enrolling in Wattsmart. Comparatively, Wattsmart customers installing both new solar and a new battery may qualify for $400/kW.
“Existing solar customers are very interested in adding an intelligent energy storage system to their solar array, not just for backup power, but for the other benefits that a storage system can provide,” said Zach Randall, VP of Sales at ES Solar. “The battery Go Back business model is also an excellent method to smooth out a solar contractor’s business over the course of the year, by providing a terrific opportunity for high-volume during the winter months. First, people love to buy backup power when it is cold, and second, installing a sonnen battery in a garage is quite feasible in comparison to selling and installing solar, on rooftops, in the snow! Indeed, the Go Back initiative has become a game changer for us, as it continues to drive the majority of ES Solar’s monthly battery sales.”
In addition to their Go Back business, ES Solar is experiencing a 95% battery attachment rate for new solar sales, with over 90% of these customers enrolling in the Wattsmart VPP. Following installation, these batteries are dispatched daily to carefully sculpt and flex PV generation and load to meet the needs of the grid.
“Through their Wattsmart Go Back expansion, ES Solar has established a new, replicable business model and sales marketing strategy designed to inspire the revolution away from solar alone and into grid-interactive and responsive solar that supports, rather than becomes a nuisance to, society’s energy grid,” said Blake Richetta, Chairman and CEO of sonnen USA.
“ES Solar’s work in the RMP service area to date is an ideal case study which illustrates the potential national impact and scalability of a grid harmonizing, as opposed to grid defecting business model. Using batteries to firm existing solar and enable the implementation of flexible DER systems and VPPs is the key to supporting genuine energy transition for humanity.”
