Solrite expands residential solar-plus-storage VPP to Illinois

Solrite Energy has launched its residential virtual power plant power purchase agreement (VPA) in Illinois, making the program available to qualifying homeowners in the ComEd and Ameren service territories. 

Under the agreement, Solrite will provide homeowners with a home solar installation and a 60 kWh home battery at zero upfront cost. The company will then sell the solar energy to the homeowner at a rate of $0.12/kWh, with a 2.9% annual price increase over a 25-year term.

At that price, the Solrite PPA could represent substantial savings over time for homeowners who sign up for the plan. The $0.12/kWh price is approximately 33% lower than ComEd’s current bundled electricity price of approximately $0.18/kWh, while the 2.9% annual increase is less than the 25-year average annual increase of 3.26% in Illinois electricity prices, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Customers who opt to sign up for a battery-only version of the VPA plan pay a flat fee of $20 per month over a 20-year term. These installations can operate in conjunction with a customer’s existing solar installation (pending compatibility verification), or on a standalone basis. The company’s public-facing marketing materials indicate the batteries are supplied by Duracell.

The expansion into Illinois is intended to address the state’s changing residential solar market. Full retail net metering for new solar customers in Illinois ended on Jan. 1, 2025, which reduced the financial viability of solar-only home installations.

Solrite says its batteries can be a lifeline for Illinois homeowners whose systems were installed after the net metering rules ended, helping them store and use all the solar energy their systems generate and avoid sending energy to the grid for pennies on the dollar in credits.

While the installations include a large battery, the company generally does not guarantee a set level of backup energy will be available at any given time. That’s due to the economic value of the stored energy that the company can realize through its VPP operations.

Solrite operates its fleet of batteries as a grid-supporting resource, capable of storing generated solar energy on-site, shaving household peaks, and charging and discharging in response to grid conditions. 

Illinois is the fifth state in which Solrite has rolled out its VPP offering, following programs in Texas, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and given the state’s raft of incentives, it may be among the most lucrative for the company.

In addition to revenues from energy sales and payments from grid operators, Solrite earns federal and state incentives, including payments for renewable energy credits (RECs) under the Illinois Shines adjustable block program. 

Current REC prices in Illinois are between about $70/MWh and $80/MWh, depending on the utility territory where the system is installed. Approved Vendors under the program are paid those prices for all the megawatt-hours a system is likely to generate over the first 15 years of operation.