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Battery Program

Use Your Battery Storage Device to Make the Grid More Sustainable

How it Works

With the summer heat, it's important to reduce stress on the grid when possible.

ConnectedSolutions uses batteries to reduce peak energy use, reduce air pollution, and lower electricity costs.

You can participate in this program either by installing a battery with a new solar PV system or by adding a battery to an existing solar PV system. And, when the time is right, Rhode Island Energy makes it easy by sending a signal directly to your battery.

Customers who have a battery without a solar PV system are able to participate, but will not be able to export power to the electric grid. This limits the battery discharge rate to the power the home is using at that time, reducing incentives. 

During the summer, batteries will be called:

  • June - September
  • 3 pm - 8 pm
  • No more than 60 times
  • A maximum of 3 hours per event

Take the first step! Contact a battery implementer (below) or your solar installer today.

Battery implementers are:

Incentives

2024-2026 ConnectedSolutions Program is subject to and pending regulatory approval. Incentive rates are subject to routine review and approval and are subject to change.

Customers will receive an incentive every summer and winter based on the performance of their battery system. 

Summer incentive rate: $400 per kW performed per summer

The incentive rate is locked in place for the first 5 summers the customer is enrolled in Connected Solutions for all new systems.* 

Incentives are performance-based. Your battery system performance will vary based on size, configuration, internet connectivity, and other factors.

 

Some battery implementers may offer other discounts, such as a reduced upfront cost in return for paying the ConnectedSolutions seasonal incentives to the battery implementer.

 

Customers are eligible to apply for a zero-interest HEAT loan for the equipment and labor costs associated with installing a battery storage system. If you are interested in receiving an authorization form, please mark the appropriate field on your ConnectedSolutions application. 

Application for ConnectedSolutions: Small Scale Batteries (to be submitted to the customer's inverter manufacturer)

 

If you have customer service questions about ConnectedSolutions, please e-mail rienergy@energyhub.com.

 

*The intent of this 'five-year rate lock' is to provide some degree of certainty about expected revenues to support project financing. However, the five-year rate lock is not a guarantee; actual incentive rates are subject to routine review and approval and are subject to change.

FAQs

A home battery storage system operates like a rechargeable AA or AAA battery, but at a much larger scale. Home battery systems can be discharged when needed, e.g. when the power goes out (if the system configuration supports this) or when there is a ConnectedSolutions event.

To participate in the program, customers must work with one of the approved battery implementors listed above. 

Many customers install energy storage systems in preparation for power outages. We want to ensure that customers with solar batteries remain prepared if the lights go out. 

In New England, most power outages occur during the winter, whereas most events in the ConnectedSolutions program will be in the summer. Additionally, if the forecast calls for extreme weather, we will not call a winter event, allowing ConnectedSolutions participants to keep fully-charged batteries in preparation for a possible outage event. Customers may also choose to participate in the summer season and forgo the winter incentive.

Yes. If we cannot communicate with your energy storage system, or if your energy storage system cannot discharge when needed (due to a maintenance issue), the incentive paid to either the system owner or their battery implementer will be affected. 

Yes. Customers with existing solar PV systems can add an energy storage system to their homes to participate. However, storage cannot be easily added to every solar PV installation. Please ask your solar installer or battery implementer for more details. 

When you add a battery system to your existing solar PV system, your solar interconnection agreement will need to be updated. Please work with your solar PV or battery implementer to complete this update.

To end your participation, please contact your battery implementer or send an email to rienergy@energyhub.com.