A startup called Resilience Energy is offering homeowners free solar panels and batteries, then selling the power generated by that equipment back to the grid when demand peaks. The company says the arrangement can cut participants' electric bills by 60% to 80% while they use the system, and it gives utilities a way to avoid firing up polluting gas plants during periods of strain.
The model represents a new twist on virtual power plants, which aggregate batteries and other energy technology installed at homes to help balance the grid. Rather than relying on homes that already have solar and batteries, Resilience Energy owns the equipment itself. That approach allows the company to build out its network faster and reach many more households, according to CEO Ameet Konkar, who previously led sustainability at Airbnb.
«We're going through one of the largest energy infrastructure buildouts of our lifetime,» Konkar said. «And American homes should be part of that; the American family should benefit from that. That's the core principle that we've built Resilience on.»
Because the company owns the hardware, the offer is open to a broader range of participants. «One of the benefits of this model is that everyone qualifies, including low and moderate incomes,» Konkar said. The startup, which launched last year and remains in the pre-seed capital stage, has also begun partnering with rental property owners who might not have invested in solar in the past because renters, not owners, see the financial benefits on electric bills.
Resilience Energy is aggregating groups of property owners that range from 1,500 homes to 20,000 or more, and is negotiating contracts with utilities and customers, including tech companies seeking the fastest ways to access more power. Under a power purchase agreement, a contract structure tech companies have used for more than a decade to catalyze utility-scale solar, customers commit to buy the energy a project produces over a certain number of years. Resilience Energy can use those contracts to obtain financing for the equipment and work with partners to handle installation.
The first contracts are in late-stage negotiation, Konkar said, and at least one is likely to be in place later this year. Interested property owners can sign up anywhere in the contiguous U.S. now, but projects will roll out over time depending on where enough homes are signed up and where power purchase agreements can be put in place.
For energy buyers, the approach is not designed to fully power a data center or other large project, but to cover capacity during the critical hours when the grid is under the most strain. The model offers several advantages for tech companies. It is faster, because instead of waiting in line for years to get a new project connected to the grid, it works with homes that are already connected. The interconnection process is simple, and the cost of the power is competitive. It also provides a way to build community support for new projects.
«It's not just, 'Here's $10 [million] or $20 million of a community benefit agreement,' which is great, but if you look at the scale of the investment, really doesn't compare,» Konkar said. «If we are doing 20,000 homes of solar and storage, that's unlocking about $500 million of capital for those homes in that community. That's not philanthropic, because philanthropic can't scale to that level. It's market priced.»
For a gigawatt-sized data center, the startup expects to provide 100 to 200 megawatts of capacity, which translates to 20,000 to 40,000 homes. Very quickly, the company says, that can add up to a massive deployment of solar and batteries. Tech companies are not the only potential buyers; the startup is also in talks with manufacturers that have large electricity demand, and utilities will be customers as well.
One challenge, Konkar said, is convincing homeowners that the program is not too good to be true. An offer of free solar and storage, combined with a promise to cut energy bills, can sound hard to believe. The company is working closely with cities, counties, and community groups as it begins to recruit more homeowners. In some cases, utilities will also serve as the messenger. Interested homeowners can sign up on the company's website now.