US utility company Rocky Mountain Power Company (RMP) said it plans to provide incentives for more than 50,000 residential and commercial solar power generation facility users in Utah because they have installed Sonnen’s battery energy storage system. The company will use solar + energy storage systems as part of the virtual power plant.

The company said that it will provide them with a one-time incentive of US$400/kW to US$600/kW based on the installation time of solar power generation facilities. After the first year, the company will pay a continuous capacity fee of $15/kW per year.

The Rocky Mountain Power Company's incentive plan requires battery energy storage systems to be charged through solar power generation systems to meet the requirements, and at the same time, these incentives may be reduced as needed in the future.

The company said that, except for grid power outages, the company will not use its customers' battery energy storage systems from November to February of the following year. From March to October each year, in order to meet the peak power demand of users, the company may use these battery energy storage systems every day.

The Rocky Mountain Power Company stated in its FAQ that it will not discharge customers’ battery energy storage systems below 10%, and promises customers that they will not discharge customers’ battery energy storage systems to 50% in the first year of the program.

The company’s incentive plan requires the battery energy storage system to be charged by on-site solar power generation facilities to fully meet the incentive conditions for the 26% solar investment tax deduction. However, the company did not mention specific technical requirements.

The company said that the plan will use the battery energy storage system provided by Sonnen. Sonnen will provide two battery energy storage systems: 10kWh Core energy storage system and Eco energy storage system. Eco has two specifications, namely the 20kWh Eco battery energy storage system and the 30kWh EcoLink battery energy storage system.

Users deploying a Core battery energy storage system with an installed capacity of 4.8kW can receive funding from US$1,920 to US$2,880. The deployment of the Eco battery energy storage system with an installed capacity of 3-7kW will receive funding from 1,200 to 4,200 US dollars, and the deployment of the EcoLinx battery energy storage system with an installed capacity of 8kW will receive funding from 3,200 to 4,800 US dollars.

Since the United States has installed 3 million solar panels in recent years, only by connecting to the grid can these renewable energy sources be fully utilized. In fact, a study by Vibrant Clean Energy shows that by 2045, the United States can save hundreds of billions of dollars in costs by fully realizing the value of distributed solar + energy storage projects.

Due to the collapse of the Texas power grid in February this year, significant losses were caused, and the continuous power shortage challenge in the California power grid stimulated consumers' demand for residential energy storage system deployment. Therefore, residential solar + energy storage projects will provide greater value to residential users and local enterprises.

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has become the main energy storage solution in modern social life. Among them, lithium iron phosphate batteries are a perfect substitute for lead-acid batteries, and are the first choice for grid-connected peak shaving, off-grid energy storage, photovoltaic energy storage, UPS, data center and other industries.

Solar power generation system with lithium battery energy storage system is a very promising clean energy.