SOLRITE Energy + Sonnen VPP Offers Texas Battery Owners a 12¢/kWh Rate

Why It Matters

The deal creates a new revenue stream for residential battery owners while supplying Texas grid operators with flexible, demand‑response resources, accelerating VPP adoption in a market facing renewable integration challenges.

Key Takeaways

• 12¢/kWh all‑in rate for 60 kWh battery
• Only $20 monthly fee
• Targets Texas deregulated utilities
• Helps solar‑orphan homeowners monetize storage
• Provides grid‑balancing reverse demand response

Pulse Analysis

SOLRITE Energy’s partnership with sonnen introduces a novel battery‑only virtual power plant (VPP) in the ERCOT market, delivering a 12‑cent‑per‑kilowatt‑hour all‑in electricity price for up to 60 kWh of on‑site storage. Priced at just $20 a month, the product is available to customers of Texas’ deregulated utilities, including major metros like Houston and Corpus Christi. By bundling individual home batteries into a coordinated dispatchable asset, the VPP can absorb excess generation during low‑demand periods and release power when the grid is strained, effectively acting as a large‑scale, reverse demand‑response resource.

The offering directly addresses the growing problem of “solar orphans” – homeowners whose rooftop solar panels no longer receive buy‑back credits as retail contracts expire. With the battery‑only VPA, these customers can store surplus solar output and sell it back to the grid, recouping costs and gaining reliable backup power. The 60 kWh capacity also provides sufficient resilience for typical household needs, positioning the solution as both an economic and reliability upgrade for Texas residences.

For the broader Texas energy landscape, this initiative signals a shift toward monetizing distributed storage independent of solar generation. As utilities grapple with intermittency and capacity constraints, aggregating residential batteries offers a cost‑effective, scalable alternative to traditional peaker plants. The model could spur further VPP deployments, attract additional investors, and influence regulatory discussions around compensation structures for distributed energy resources, ultimately reshaping how the Lone Star State balances supply and demand.

SOLRITE Energy + sonnen VPP offers Texas battery owners a 12¢/kWh rate

By Kelly Pickerel · Date not provided

SOLRITE Energy has established a new virtual power plant (VPP) offer in the Texas ERCOT market with sonnen.

Up to 60 kWh of sonnen energy storage per home can be included on the VPP agreement (VPA), receiving a 12¢ per kWh “all‑in” retail energy rate, all for a $20 per month fee. The SOLRITE sonnen Battery VPA offer is restricted to Texas “de‑regulated utilities,” including Houston, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

Credit: sonnen

“SOLRITE’s new battery‑only VPA product in Texas represents a major milestone for the growing VPP market in America,” said Blake Richetta, Chairman and CEO of sonnen Inc. USA. “Finally, the value of the VPP battery stands entirely on its own as a dispatchable grid balancing solution, by way of a deep grid services value stack, either added to an existing solar array or absent of solar entirely. It is through the robust VPP grid services value stack that the battery monetizes, enabling the extraordinary 12¢ per kWh retail rate and 60 kWh of backup power for the end‑user customer. For $20 per month, this 60‑kWh product is affordable for most Texas families. With this product, the vast majority of the cost of the VPP node is not shouldered by the end user, but is instead paid for by the Texas energy system for value delivered.”

Retail electricity contracts in Texas typically last anywhere from 12 to 36 months. Compensation for solar injection into the grid, also known as a “Solar Buy‑Back” in Texas, is offered as a component of certain retail electricity plans. At the end of any specific electricity contract, retail electric providers in Texas are not obligated to continue to offer a customer a Solar Buy‑Back plan as part of a new retail electricity contract. Consequently, it has become increasingly difficult for retail electric providers to pay near‑retail prices for solar injection, causing Solar Buy‑Backs to gradually disappear from the market and leaving tens of thousands of solar customers with a “stranded” solar array.

These “solar orphans” are left on the hook to continue paying their solar PPA production payments or loan payments despite no longer being compensated for their constant daily solar injection to the grid. The SOLRITE sonnen battery‑only VPA offering allows orphaned solar customers to gain compensation with their stored energy in a battery.

“Many Texans who invested in rooftop solar have been left disappointed as shrinking buy‑back programs and unpredictable retail plans eroded the savings they were promised,” explained Regan George, CEO and Founder of SOLRITE Energy. “Our new battery‑only VPA, powered by 60 kWh of sonnen storage, gives those homeowners a way to capture and use their own energy for real value.”

Ratepayers who do not wish to or cannot install on‑site rooftop solar can also sign up for the battery‑only VPA, while benefiting from the 60 kWh of backup power, as well as the extremely attractive 12¢ per kWh all‑in retail electricity rate from SOLRITE‑sonnen retail partner, Abundance Energy. With a grid‑balancing capacity far exceeding that of solar + battery VPP nodes, pure sonnen battery nodes — with no rooftop solar — can function as a dispatchable load during times of excess generation in the grid. This innovative solution provides a form of reverse demand response for the grid, absorbing excess energy generated during low‑demand periods and shifting it to meet customer needs during peak periods of high grid congestion, effectively acting as a large, coordinated grid load shift.

News item from sonnen

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Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World.

Email Kelly.