TriSMART explains new virtual power plant PPA business model in Texas

sonnen battery home

Solar installers with aspirations of taking part in the virtual power plant revolution — especially in a market like Texas — can differentiate from competitors with a new solar + storage system design and financial model. Such is the case with Houston-based TriSMART Solar.

TriSMART is a key installer now offering the new sonnen/Solrite virtual power plant power purchase agreement (VPA), which will offer a solar panel and battery installation at no upfront cost. Instead Solrite finances the solar + sonnen batteries for a killer fixed rate that’s about a 30% discount for a customer’s energy usage compared with the local utility rates.

“It’s been very awesome to be affiliated with sonnen and Solrite and to get involved with them. The technology’s very disruptive. It has provided us with a differentiator that a lot of installers haven’t been able to provide to the marketplace. So, we’ve seen sales increase because of the offering,” Mark Bench, the CEO of the company told SB in a recent interview.

Texans participating in the Solrite program pay a rate of just 12¢ per kWh for solar energy, significantly lower than the 19¢ – 20¢ per kWh rate commonly seen in the state.

“This solution ensures that they’re saving money and they get a product that supports them when the grid goes down,” Bench continues. “You’re able to offer a residential customer a low below-market kWh rate locked in for 25 years, and you include up to 60 kWh of storage to back up critical loads when the grid goes down. That’s a really powerful offering to consumers.”

The VPA logic explained

TriSMART had completed over 13,000 projects with over 30 MW of power installed, as of the end of 2023. TriSMART became involved with the sonnen/Solrite solution after years of experimenting with emerging VPP technology.

“The virtual power plant model is something we’ve been looking at for three years now. Two years ago we set our sights on becoming the largest virtual power plant construction company in Texas,” Bench said. “This decision was because of how strongly we feel the importance of creating these virtual power plants for our Texas customers, for the utilities and for the overall economy.”

The sonnen/Solrite VPP (which we first covered at Intersolar North America in 2024) is gaining substantial attention as a model for VPP success both for its rate guarantee and for its power security in Texas, where the grid has been challenged over the recent past.

While the solar is designed to cover 80% of the customer’s energy use, the storage is over-built by about 30%. The grid science behind oversizing the batteries is unique to Texas because there are times on the Texas grid when a surplus of energy needs to be stored, and other times where discharging to perform grid services is highly valuable.

Sonnen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell within its Renewables and Energy Solutions division. Sonnen built its battery specifically to perform grid services and has proven its utility in several large-scale behind-the-meter VPP networks in countries throughout Europe. This is why Solrite felt confident in financially backing sonnen batteries with this VPA deal.

“The era of conflict between solar energy and utilities is over,” explains Regan George, CEO of Solrite Energy. “The Solrite Texas VPA establishes a collaborative partnership between renewable energy and retail electric providers, delivering sustainable, reliable, and affordable power for all.”

sonnen batteries in garage

Scaling Up solar + storage support

TriSMART attempts to blanket Texas with service coverage by rolling trucks up to 400 miles from seven key cities in the state: Austin; Dallas/Ft. Worth; El Paso; Houston; McAllen; Midland/Odessa; and San Antonio. By strategically locating its regional units, the company has emerged as the largest installer in the state, according to one industry measurement.

“I think some installers have a tendency to get really big, really fast and try and take over multiple states or multiple utilities. But in construction, since you’re dealing with different AHJs and utilities, we found a lot of value in retracting our footprint,” said Bench. “At one time, were in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Utah. Since then, we’ve actually pulled completely out of all of those states and we’re focused 100% now on the Texas market,” he said.

Rapidly deploying such a different line of business, like this sonnen + Solrite VPA deal, presented a new challenge of retraining existing employees while also adding substantially to their ranks.

“We hired another 25 field employees within the first 30 days, to keep up with the VPP workload. Overall, our team grew to about 250 total head count, of which our field operations are about 180,” Bench noted.

“We fluctuate between 16 and 20 full time installation crews that range from three to five members on each crew. But we’ve had to really retrain all of our people on the sonnen battery technology, because it is a unique set of technology that wasn’t built specifically for the U.S. grid,” said Bench.

TriSMART turned on the sonnen offering at the end of October [2024] and did its first install in less than 30 days. TriSMART finished the year with just under 150 installs!

“It took us 30 to 45 days to kind of get our bearings straight,” Bench noted. “We hired a lot more people really quickly in an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation. We got resourceful and scrappy really quickly, and that that really made the difference. It really does require you to go all in. You can’t kind of limp in or try it out, or do it like a pilot; you’ve just got to say, “Okay, we’re doing this.’” Bench explained.

TriSMART had to revamp some of its systems, processes, and technology to support account management, project management, and dial in different types of training.

“And then very intentionally, daily communication with sonnen, our team, and the utility,” Bench explained. “We were intentionally and rigorously in communication all along the way.”

Solid Code of Ethics

One key to convincing customers to move to the signature space on a VPA contract is TriSMART’s up front code of ethics. TriSMART is aligned with the SEIA Solar Business Code and sits on some of the related committees, Bench said.

“There are a lot of trade associations out there and they do a good job. “I also participate [as President] in the Residential Solar Association (RSA), which keeps an eye on the policy that needs to be discussed and then relay that to our members. There are a lot of installers that don’t have budget for policy people, or even pay attention to it,” Bench concluded.

The RSA mission is threefold: “We strive to educate solar professionals about best practices and emerging technologies, elevate the standards of the solar industry to ensure ethical and sustainable practices, and advocate for policies that support the growth and integrity of residential solar,” the website states.

Committing to the cutting (grid) edge

Since September 2024, Solrite has committed over 40 MWh of residential battery power to the Texas market through this program.

“I think that you’ll start to see multiple players popping up and figuring out how to install batteries and turn them into virtual power plant assets that offer a wide array of grid services,” Bench predicted. “A lot of them will struggle to find ways that make it economically work in the beginning, but a lot of people are investing heavily into piloting different types of grid services now.”

Bench predicts we’ll soon see the deregulated markets adopt this VPP modality, and then the regulated markets will come along behind it.

“In order to do a VPP in the regulated markets — like the co-op power companies here, you’ve got to have their buy in, so you’ve got to create agreements with them that work for their model,” Bench said.

Apart from the residential market, there also is value for small commercial customers, Bench suggested.

“VPPs also will be popping up in the small commercial space,.” he said. “We just launched a small commercial division, and for every project we’re bidding on, we incorporate VPP and microgrid technology for the project itself.”

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