Connected Communities

How Do Energy Smart Connected Communities Work?

Energy Smart Connected Communities change how individual homes interact with the electrical grid—and each other—for more reliable, resilient and low-cost energy.

As seen in the video above, every home in the community comes equipped with its own SunPower Equinox^® solar system and SunVault® battery storage. During normal grid operations, the homes maintain regular utility service, but in an outage, they can operate as a self-supporting microgrid, drawing energy from their individual SunVault storage systems as well as from a large community battery. Together, they’re designed to support critical loads such as lights, refrigeration and WiFi, as well as additional high-capacity loads like HVAC and hot water. When the sun is shining, individual and community batteries are continually recharged using excess solar generation until grid connection returns.

Additional energy services offered by SunPower will allow residents to enroll in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program through which their battery storage, EV chargers and other flexible loads will automatically dispatch to reduce strain on the distribution grid. VPP participants can be compensated for the valuable service their devices provide to the power grid, helping to prevent future outages and making the grid cleaner and more resilient for everyone.