Shah: Zero-backfeed VPPs bypass utility permission hurdles by only offsetting load
Jigar Shah · Could VPPs save rooftop solar? · May 23, 2024 · at 30:27
DOE Loan Programs Office Director Jigar Shah proposes designing virtual power plants around zero grid export to avoid utility interconnection bottlenecks.
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“And so if you make a simplifying assumption, which is that no one is backfeeding anything into the grid. Right? Right? That the batteries you know, basically use case here is to make your home go off grid. Right? Sort of an energy efficiency play. So your home now has zero load because you're getting it from the battery. You're not actually backfeeding that battery into the grid. Right? Then that simplifying assumption solves so much of your, the answer to your question, right? Because once this is basically like, you know, like, I promise you I'm not backfeeding into the grid. Well, now you don't need to ask the utility for permission, right? Because the utility doesn't care. If what you're doing is varying your load from zero to something else, they don't really care all that much, right? And so that That becomes a much easier framework by which to run a VPP”
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