Renewable energy systems and software provider, Evergen, has announced it will offer eligible Queensland households a free 5.6kW Evergen solar system when they purchase an Alpha ESS 10.3kWh battery from Evergen and participate in the Home Energy Management System (HEMS) pilot program through Energex.
The HEMS pilot program includes panels and battery storage installation by Evergen, as well as Evergen’s intelligent energy management system, developed in partnership with the CSIRO, which optimises the performance of solar and battery systems to reduce grid energy consumption and connects consumers with network initiatives such as virtual power plants and demand response.
Eligible Queensland households in postcodes Chapel Hill 4069, North Lakes 4509, Wakerley 4154 and Springfield Lakes 4300 are invited to join the pilot program.
During the five-month pilot program, which runs from December 2020 to April 2021, Energex will test the impact on the network from reducing energy load in times of market events.
This will involve turning off high consumption devices such as air conditioning, pool pumps or hot water systems for a short period of time or discharge their battery to reduce the amount of energy drawn from the grid.
CEO and Managing Director of Evergen, Ben Hutt, said the program is a great opportunity for Queenslanders, in particular those who experience grid stability issues in their area, to trial this new way of supporting the grid.
“In the near future, customers with batteries will get paid on an ongoing basis for participating in initiatives such as this. In this case, given the pilot nature of the program, we are incentivising participation by providing this special offer,” Mr Hutt said.
“This pilot program is one of a number of network initiatives Evergen is involved in across the country and will build a case for much broader roll-out and adoption of battery technology. As the network infrastructure moves to be smarter, having these controls in homes allows customers to earn revenue from the grid for controlling their loads, for example, turning off the air-conditioning if it helps to avoid a blackout.
“Initiatives such as this will support the mass adoption of batteries as part of the network infrastructure, as the economics improve significantly with paybacks coming down to roughly six years depending on location and usage. At this level mass adoption becomes possible, and it’s the Evergen software that can enable this at scale.”
Eligible Queensland households participating in the pilot program must have installations complete by 1 December 2020.
