Australian utility Ergon Energy has selected SunPower to supply its high-efficiency photovoltaic solar power systems with energy storage technology from Sunverge Energy to 33 Queensland homes.
This is Ergon Energy’s first residential solar and storage project to be piloted in a limited release commercial offer. “Ergon Energy is looking to the future and partnering with SunPower and Sunverge to provide solar and battery systems as part of this trial due to the unique demand management features which allow stored power to be put back into the grid,” said Ergon Energy Chief Executive Ian McLeod.
“We hope to create customer and network value by utilising energy resources located at the customer premises,” Ergon Energy Chief Executive Ian McLeod said. “This is an important step towards more efficient ways to run electricity networks and also towards giving customers greater choice and control in how they manage their electricity needs. We want to be at the forefront of these developments to increase customer service offerings and reduce investment into constrained areas of the network.”
The project is being supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency , which has contributed A$400,000 towards Ergon’s plans to provide solar PV and battery storage systems to residential customers.
Ergon Energy Retail will trial the hybrid energy systems with 33 customers in Toowoomba, Townsville and Cannonvale. SunPower will design and install the systems, which will include SunPower solar panels and Sunverge Solar Integration Systems, which include backup power capability and a 6-kilowatt inverter with 11.6 kilowatt hours of energy, on-board computing and cellular communications.
All of the systems are expected to be installed and operational by the end of this year.