Haven Energy has experienced substantial growth since the state reduced compensation incentives for solar panel customers and increased tax credits for battery storage systems.
The Sawtelle-based company, which acts as a one-stop shop to guide homeowners through the process of selecting, financing and installing home battery systems, recently closed a $7 million series A funding round and said its business is expanding and accelerating.
Haven Chief Executive Vinnie Campo said that as severe weather conditions such as storms and heat waves continue to impact the state, home battery storage systems can help customers save money, reduce stress on power grids and avoid power outages during high-demand periods. Campo added that there has been a notable increase in homeowners using renewable energy sources.
“We think this is probably the very beginning of that transformation (to renewable energy), and so we think there’s a huge opportunity ahead to help improve the grid, to help stabilize it and to help homeowners get a bit more control over their power,” Campo said
A home battery storage system allows power from solar panels to be stored for later use, including during peak energy usage times when grid stress is high. Homeowners can then use stored energy during peak prices or use that stored energy in the case of a power loss caused by electric grid failure.
Haven set up a “virtual power plant” program in the fall through the California Energy Commission’s Demand Side Grid Support Program. VPPs don’t involve a physical power plant, but rather offer incentives to homeowners that collect energy during the day, store it in their home battery systems and sell it back to the power grid when demand is high. Haven said that VPP participants are guaranteed a minimum of $125 per year in compensation for the power they sell back.
California changed its Net Energy Metering system in April of last year, including an approximately 75% reduction of the value of…
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