Have a home battery but not part of a VPP? Here’s what you should do.
If you have invested in a home battery to optimise your solar generation and electricity consumption, you’re already winning by choosing sustainable energy solutions.
On its own, your solar and battery system helps reduce your power bills, and your carbon footprint. Now consider the energy and environmental impact that yours, and many other residential solar and battery systems could make, when connected via cutting-edge technologies driven by best practice community energy management.
Virtual Power Plants or VPPs are rapidly gaining momentum in Australia and for battery owners, joining a VPP is the next step towards increasing the savings potential of their system. Beyond the potential savings in electricity costs, households that join a VPP are also supporting their neighbours and community to move to a cleaner, greener, energy future.
For battery owners exploring the benefits of a VPP for their household, here’s what you need to know.
Understand how a VPP operates: A VPP is a network of energy sources, including home solar and battery systems, that are managed through a centralised platform. At different times throughout the day, the demand for electricity increases. This could be due to several factors including peak consumer usage, weather events, fossil fuel generator outages or general underperformance of the grid. When demand is high, VPP operators or electricity retailers such as Nectr are requested to contribute to stabilising the demand. As a VPP operator Nectr taps into its network of connected customer battery systems to redistribute stored, unused energy into the grid when its needed most. Read more in Nectr’s VPP explainer here.
Understand your energy use: The first step in deciding whether to join a VPP is understanding how and when your household uses energy. If you’re unsure about your energy consumption patterns, the best place to start is your last energy bill from your provider. Higher or lower daytime, evening, weekday or weekend energy use could impact the way a VPP utilises stored energy from your system. By understanding how much your household is generating from solar panels and the capacity of your battery system, and then comparing this with the amount of energy consumed by the household, homeowners can make an informed decision about whether specific VPP plans suits for their energy needs.
Tap into free online resources: Invest in time to learn more about VPPs and the VPP plans available that suit your household’s energy consumption patterns. There are a range of online tools available that can help inform your decision to join a VPP. Nectr’s Savings Estimator can provide an estimate of potential savings from joining Nectr Evolve in a few minutes. Take the time to learn about your existing energy assets and whether you may need to install additional technology, such as smart meters. While VPPs may not seem simple at first, investing in self-education will ensure you sign up to the best VPP plan for the best long-term outcomes to suit your household energy consumption.
Explore options: The key to getting the most out of a VPP network is exploring options on the market to find the most suitable VPP plan for your household’s energy use. Research reputable VPP providers in your state or territory. Assess their VPP plans, incentives, and the technologies they use to find the best fit for your needs.
Test and compare: It’s going to take some time to iron out thecomplexities of how your system works with the VPP network. After joining a VPP, allow at least 3 to 6 months to compare and test energy management. Giving the VPP time to learn the energy patterns and do its work will ensure you’re on a VPP plan that optimises your system and savings.
With a compatible home battery, VPP technologies help tap into unused energy stored in connected residential home batteries to optimise energy generation, storage and consumption across the energy network.
Nectr is an expert in VPP with a proprietary VPP ecosystem - Nectr Evolve – offering three different VPP plans to suit different energy needs. Through a central VPP platform, such as Nectr Evolve households can join a VPP plan to suit their energy consumption patterns to maximise their savings potential with market-leading offers.
Contact Nectr at vpp.sales@nectr.com.au to find out more about their VPP plans or click on the links below to explore Nectr’s Evolve VPP plans.
- Nectr BEEyond - A simple set-and-forget plan with Nectr optimising your battery for you, so that 100% of your unused, stored energy will be used as efficiently as possible in exchange for rates as low as 3c per kWh for up to 1,000kWh grid supplied electricity.
- BEE Super FiT - Super charge your savings and earn with our never-before-seen FiT rates of 50c/kWh at peak times for battery exports. Plus, get a $100 sign up credit* when you join.
- Nectr Plan BEE – More conventional, pay-as-you-go VPP plan with partial optimisation by Nectr suitable for those just starting the journey in VPP participation. This option offers $20 monthly VPP bill credit and $100 sign up credit** when you join. Drive down your energy costs by syncing your appliances with your solar and battery and enjoy this plan’s highly competitive rates.
