Demand Management, Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Storage, Industrial, Utilities, Distributed Generation, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  May 6, 2016

SolarCity launches new service set, including storage, for utilities, grid operators

SolarCity, a company most commonly known for its rooftop solar business, is now offering a new set of services for utilities and grid operators, including storage solutions presumably provided by Tesla. 

The company's new services include installation, financing and consulting services for utility-scale solar and energy storage resource development, as well as advanced controls for demand response, distributed energy resources, and aggregated grid services. On the storage side, SolarCity is offering "firm and dispatchable utility-scale storage solutions as a complement to solar power."

The news comes just weeks after Tesla Motors revealed in an filing with the U.S. SEC that it expects to increase its 2015 storage sales to SolarCity by more than 10 times in 2016. According to an analysis of the numbers in Tesla's filing done by Greentech Media, Tesla expects to install approximately 116 MWh of behind the meter storage in 2016; that figure tops total installations of behind the meter storage in the U.S. in all of 2015, which was reportedly about 76 MWh.

Back to SolarCity, the company said several utilities have already started using its new services, including Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, which worked with SolarCity to install a 12 MW utility-scale solar array and is currently implementing a solar and storage facility that will boast a 13 MW solar array and 52 MWh battery system, according to the news release. The company is also working with Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative and Southern California Edison . 

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