What is the Ava SmartHome Battery Program?

The SmartHome Battery Program is a solar and battery incentive program designed to help you maximize your investment with installation rebates and ongoing participation payments. By connecting your battery to Ava Community Energy’s virtual power plant (VPP), you help reduce emissions and keep electricity rates stable for the entire community when the grid is strained.

‍Learn more about the SmartHome Battery Program on Ava Community Energy’s website.

What is a virtual power plant (VPP)?

A Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a collection of energy resources in customer homes (e.g., batteries, electric vehicles, thermostats) that are grouped together using software and then controlled in unison to deliver energy to the grid like a traditional power station. 

Read more about virtual power plants and their benefits.

What benefits will I receive by enrolling?

You will receive several benefits through enrolling in SmartHome Battery:

• Financial incentives: Ongoing participation payments and lower upfront costs through an installation rebate if you are installing and owning a new system.
• Stronger and cleaner grid: Help meet local demand and contribute to a community-wide effort to reduce reliance on natural gas power plants.

Beyond the program itself, owning a battery system offers additional advantages: 

• Bill savings: Use your battery to reduce your electricity bill charges outside of grid events.‍
• Home energy resilience: Keep your household electricity running with backup power stored in your battery during power outages.

Am I eligible for the program?

Eligibility requirements include:

• Being an Ava Community Energy customer
• Installing or owning one of the program-approved home batteries 
• Owning the grid services rights to your battery
• Not being enrolled in another Demand Response (DR) program such as Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP), Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS), market-integrated programs (like Renew Home, OhmConnect, or Leap), Hourly Flex Pricing (HFP), or Ava’s Resilient Home. 
• If you received an SGIP incentive and are a market-rate customer, you are not eligible for incentives through this program*.
  

*Income-qualified customers (CARE/FERA) are still eligible regardless of whether they received the SGIP incentive.

Does my battery need to be connected to a solar system?

Yes, your battery must be connected to a solar system.

How do I know if I own the grid service rights to my battery?

If you bought your system outright and paid for it in full or financed it through a loan, you likely own the grid service rights to your system. If you are leasing it, you likely do not. If you are unsure, you should check with your installer or review your lease contract to confirm.

‍What is the installation rebate amount? 

The installation rebate is an upfront incentive that is only available for new installs and is based on the battery capacity you nominate to share (40%, 60%, or 80%).

• Market Rate Customers: $90 per kWh of nominated capacity.
• Income-Qualified (CARE/FERA) Customers: $500 per kWh of nominated capacity.

What is the nominated capacity?

Nominated capacity is the portion of your battery you choose to share with the Ava VPP. The rest of your battery will be reserved for your personal use.

What should I expect once I connect to Ava's VPP through this program?

Ava will call on your battery during times of grid strain to send energy back to the grid and help the community. This will be limited to 80 hours of grid events per year. At this time, Ava will only use the nominated capacity of your battery that you have selected to share. You can opt out of events and will not be penalized if corresponding with PSPS, National Weather Service, or legal grid outages.

How will I receive the installation rebate?

Customers installing a new system may be eligible to receive an upfront incentive. Your rebate delivery method depends on your customer type and your choice of installer:

Market Rate Customers:

• If you work with an Ava qualified-installer, you may choose to apply the rebate directly to your contract as an upfront discount.
• If you use an installer outside the program network, or decide to receive the rebate yourself, you will receive the rebate directly via Tremendous (a payment platform) after your system is successfully enrolled and connected to Ava’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

Income-Qualified (CARE/FERA) Customers:

• You must work with a program-trained installer. The rebate will be applied as an upfront discount on your system.

How long does it take to receive the installation rebate?

If you choose to receive the installation rebate yourself, the payment will be sent via a redemption email from Tremendous, the payment facilitator. If you received this as a discount on your system, the payment will be sent to the installer of your system.

The rebate will be sent out after the system is installed and received permission to operate (PTO) from your utility. You or your installer should expect the installation rebate within 90 days of your system receiving permission to operate (PTO).

How will I receive the ongoing participation payment?

Payments are paid quarterly (in January, April, July, and October) via an email from Tremendous by the tenth business day after the end of each quarter, following confirmation of battery system PTO and one successful test battery system dispatch. You will receive $3.00 per kWh per month based on the capacity you chose to share.

How long does my enrollment last?

Once enrolled, you are guaranteed to receive participation payments for five years, provided you continue to meet the required grid event participation.

Will participating in this program impact my battery’s warranty?

No, there is no impact on your battery and its warranty if you participate in the SmartHome Battery program.

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For additional FAQs or to review the full program terms and conditions, please visit the Ava website.

If you have questions regarding the Ava SmartHome Battery, you can reach us at avasmarthomebattery@lunarenergy.com or call our support line at (650) 240-7240. Our team is available Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 5 PM PT.

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