As utilities and government grapple with how to add more clean power to the grid while lowering costs and satisfying increased demand, they are turning to innovative technology solutions, like home batteries and solar.

Ann Arbor, Mich., recently announced a solar-plus-storage pilot program that is designed to help residents access clean power and increase reliability. 

In 2024, voters authorized the creation of the city’s own Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), a unique, community-owned, municipal utility to provide customers with 100%  local, clean energy.

This month, SEU announced it is launching a solar-plus-storage program that will provide 15-kilowatt-hour (kWh) batteries and solar photovoltaic systems to 100 or more homes in the city’s Bryant neighborhood. The utility intends to expand the program to other parts of the city next year. 

Meanwhile in Texas, clean energy provider Octopus Energy, Houston, has teamed up with home battery systems provider Lunar Energy, Mountain View, Calif., to provide home batteries coupled with a fixed energy pricing plan to help consumers manage their energy consumption and reduce costs.

The plan combines an electricity rate with a home battery system in a single package. With zero upfront cost, the energy rate will start at 8¢ per kWh for three years with a $45 monthly subscription for the battery. Customers will have the option to own the battery at the end of the battery service agreement. Customers will receive a 30-kWh Lunar Battery, installed and configured for the home.

The plan will give customers access to 100% renewable energy, all generated within the state of Texas at a fixed and affordable price. The companies emphasize that the package will also help provide customers with added protection against outages.

According to Kunal Girotra, founder and CEO of Lunar Energy, the pairing “can change what home energy actually looks like for people.”

The two partners say that this could be a precursor to a wider rollout across Texas.