SolarCity resumes storage deployment in California

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

SolarCity looks likely to resume its programme of deploying residential energy storage systems in California, following a preliminary ruling by the state’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) appeared to rule in the company’s favour.

CPUC determined that utilities are not entitled to charge grid connection fees which SolarCity had called “arbitrary” and “punitive". The decision remains subject to approval, with a final ruling expected “as early as” mid-May, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Following reports in the media that SolarCity had suspended the programme due to the charges, SolarCity head of communications Will Craven spoke to PV Tech and explained that the programme had not been curtailed or officially suspended. Instead, Craven said that faced with the charges, which he claimed impacted on the company’s business model, SolarCity was forced to stop putting in new applications for storage.

SolarCity co-founder and chief technology officer Peter Rive also wrote today in a post on the company's blog that the role of putting storage on the grid could be played by utilities and grid operators. Rive wrote that while tensions did exist between solar companies and utilities, SolarCity worked “with them every day to connect our solar power systems", before adding that there remains “potential for much greater synergy". Rive said that this ‘synergy’ should be powered by batteries.

Although it is possible in theory using storage batteries for PV system owners to go completely off-grid, according to Rive, “SolarCity has no interest in this scenario". Rive argued that an electricity network should remain exactly that and that limits remain to what self-sufficient solar consumers could achieve in terms of integrating renewable sources of energy to the grid, along with other drawbacks.

Rive’s post discussed the potential benefits of grid operators and utilities controlling storage. Rive argued grid operators could respond quickly to high levels of solar penetration at peak times, for example. As well as providing economic benefits to parties providing services such as frequency regulation to grids, storage could also lower grid costs, Rive wrote.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

May 1, 2025
Yarra Energy Foundation has secured funding to install three new community batteries in and around Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
May 1, 2025
AEMO has revealed that, as of March 2025, the pipeline of new standalone BESS in the NEM has increased by 86% year-on-year (YoY).
April 30, 2025
NYSERDA has launched a programme to incentivise residential and retail energy storage in the state, offering a total of US$775 million for energy storage projects.
Premium
April 30, 2025
Leading BESS owner-operators in the UK have signalled their opposition to the government’s cap and floor support scheme for long-duration energy storage (LDES) in an open letter. We spoke to one its signatories James Basden, founder of Zenobē, about why.
April 29, 2025
A panel discussed the impact of CAISO’s interconnection reforms at last month’s Energy Storage Summit USA 2025 in Dallas.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter