Smart Energy Home program offers residential customers a package of low-carbon energy technologies, including solar panels, battery storage and a smart thermostat
SolarCity, one of America's leading installers of solar panels, has launched a new "self-supply" programme to residential customers in Hawaii that aims to minimise reliance on electricity from the grid.
The package, dubbed the Smart Energy Home, was launched last week and offers homeowners a bundle of low-carbon energy products co-ordinated through a "home gateway" to help them maximise the use of the energy they generate.
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The system combines SolarCity's solar panels with Tesla's Powerwall battery storage technology, electric water heaters and Nest's smart learning thermostat, to create a full-service low-carbon energy system for homeowners.
In a statement, SolarCity said its smart home management system uses the battery and electric water heater to store the renewable energy generated during the day so it can be used during hours of peak demand.
"Altogether, the Smart Energy Home uses the battery, smart electric water heater and controllable Nest Learning Thermostat to automatically modify energy usage based on how much solar power is available to prevent energy from being exported back to the grid," the firm said.
The news came in the same week as SolarCity launched a new tax equity fund to finance $249m of new solar projects across the US.
The fund, launched late last week and backed by an unnamed Fortune 500 partner firm, covers the capital cost of solar equipment and installation, enabling SolarCity to offer solar panels to residential consumers at no upfront cost. Residents then make monthly payments for the clean power the use.
Investors in the fund are able to claim federal tax credits available for solar energy systems - credits which were recently extended by Congress until at least 2020.
However, SolarCity is facing wider market turbulence in the US, after the state of Nevada imposed costly new rules for residential solar customers late last year. The move forced SolarCity's business to pull its business out of the state and cut around 1,000 jobs from its workforce.
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