It's easier than ever to install solar panels on your roof, generating clean, renewable energy to power your home. And not only that, but you could also earn money from your rooftop solar panels by pooling your clean energy with that of your neighbors and selling it to the grid through something called a "virtual power plant."
Swell Energy, a California-based energy storage company, is attempting to make it easier for homeowners in the Southeastern United States to do just that. The company just acquired Renu Energy Solutions, a regional installer in Georgia and the Carolinas, Canary Media reported.
The company's move into the Southeast "does not come cheap," Canary Media wrote. But Swell seems up for the challenge, having raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors so far.
Although solar energy is more difficult to harvest in the Southeast than it is in sunny California, the expansion allows Swell to expand its customer base and network — and with virtual power plants, the more the merrier.
One expert called virtual power plants "the energy system of the future," and added that "the future is not very far away." The system allows the harvesting of clean energy by private homes and businesses to be consolidated and streamlined, reducing strain on the grid and making sure everyone has power whenever they need it.
The United States' first regional virtual power plant went online in New England in late 2022. Since then, several others have emerged, including one in Puerto Rico, one in the Idaho-Wyoming-Utah region, and others.
Generating clean, renewable energy to reduce your reliance on dirty, polluting forms of energy like gas and oil is great. Doing that while pooling your resources with your neighbors for the collective good is even better. And virtual power plants are making that process more and more accessible.
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