Summer has officially arrived in New England. While we are all looking forward to beach days at Cape Cod, weekends in Newport, and trips up to the Connecticut coast, this season also brings something less enjoyable: soaring temperatures and even higher electric bills.
Between running the air conditioning around the clock and facing peak summer utility rates, keeping your home cool can get incredibly expensive. At Onegrid, we want to help you take control of your energy use.
Here is how solar panels and smart battery systems work together to protect your wallet and the local grid during a New England summer.
The Shift in Summer Peak Demand
Historically, the electric grid faced its highest stress during hot summer afternoons when everyone cranked up their AC at the same time. However, thanks to the massive growth of local rooftop solar, that peak has shifted.
Environment+Energy Leader
Because local solar systems produce an abundance of clean energy during the day, the regional grid operator, ISO New England, reports that the daily peak demand now hits later in the evening, usually between 5 PM and 6 PM. This is exactly when the sun goes down and solar production drops, but households are still running appliances and cooling their homes.
InDepthNH.org
This evening window is where utility companies charge the most for electricity. It is also where having a home battery backup completely changes the game.
Get Paid to Share Energy: ConnectedSolutions
If you live in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, owning a battery storage system is not just about emergency backup power during a summer storm. It is a legitimate stream of automated income.
New England Clean Energy+ 1
Through a demand-response program called ConnectedSolutions, utilities like National Grid, Eversource, and Rhode Island Energy will actually pay you to help balance the grid.
Enphase Energy
- How it works: On the hottest days of the summer, when energy demand spikes between June 1 and September 30, the utility will occasionally call a peak demand event. With your permission, they will briefly draw a portion of the stored clean energy from your home battery for two to three hours to help stabilize the local grid. NuWatt Energy
- The Payouts:
- Massachusetts: Eversource pays a massive $275 per kW summer incentive, while National Grid pays $225 per kW. A single high-capacity battery can easily earn you over $3,000 across the summer season. NuWatt Energy
- Rhode Island: Rhode Island Energy offers $225 per kW for its summer program, allowing homeowners to earn hundreds of dollars annually just for letting their battery do the heavy lifting during heatwaves. Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources – RI.gov
- No Impact on Your Lifestyle: You do not have to do a thing. The system adjusts automatically, you receive a notification on your phone beforehand, and your battery is guaranteed to leave you plenty of reserve power so your home stays protected.
State-Specific Summer Programs to Know
Each state in our tri-state area has unique incentives designed to make adopting solar and batteries incredibly affordable right now.
- Rhode Island: Property owners can stack the state’s Renewable Energy Fund (REF) grant with the Energy Storage Rebate. By combining a new solar installation with a battery backup system, you can slash up to $19,500 directly off the upfront cost of your project. Newport Electric Construction
- Massachusetts: Beyond the lucrative ConnectedSolutions payouts, your battery rewards can be stacked with the state’s SMART program battery adder, which contributes extra ongoing credits for the clean energy you generate and store. Plus, residents can utilize the 0% interest Mass Save HEAT Loan to finance the installation of qualified battery systems.
- Connecticut: While Connecticut has transitioned new applicants from ConnectedSolutions over to the newer Energy Storage Solutions program, the state continues to offer robust upfront storage incentives and performance payouts designed to maximize the value of your home generation.
Quick Tips to Optimize Your System This Summer
If you already have solar or are planning an upgrade with Onegrid, keep these practical summer tips in mind:
- Pre-Cool Your Property: Run your air conditioning a few degrees lower in the morning when your solar panels are producing excess power or electricity rates are cheap. When peak evening hours hit, you can ease up on the AC while your home stays cool.
- Time Your Big Appliances: Try to run your dishwasher, clothes dryer, or EV charger during the peak sunlight hours of 10 AM to 2 PM. This ensures you are running them completely on free, self-generated solar power rather than drawing from the grid.
- Set Your Battery Profile: Ensure your battery is set to a cost-optimization or grid-program mode rather than just emergency backup. This allows the system to intelligently deploy power when utility rates are at their highest. NuWatt Energy
Ready for an Energy-Independent Summer?
The days of feeling helpless against rising summer electric bills are over. Whether you are looking to install a brand new solar array or add a battery backup to your existing system to cash in on summer grid incentives, Onegrid has you covered.
Let us build a customized energy plan that works for your home and your budget. Contact the Onegrid team today for a free evaluation.