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Lights on Silicon Valley

Get rewarded for using your battery system

Sunrun, in partnership with Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), is launching Lights On Silicon Valley, an exciting new program to reward qualifying solar + battery customers for helping reduce strain on the electric grid! Eligible customers are auto-enrolled in this 10-year program, but if you’d like to opt out, you can do so at any time.*

Rewards:

Annual $75 Visa Gift Card for your participation in the program!♱

How it Works

Rewards + enrollment

Power your home + share for credit

Keep power for backup

  • For participating in the program, you’ll receive a $75 Visa Gift Card each year♱

  • Enrollment is automatic for eligible customers

  • Beginning January 1, 2024, your battery system will discharge each weekday between 5-9 p.m. (when grid electricity prices are high), powering your home and sending excess energy to the local grid

  • You’ll receive Net Energy Metering (NEM) credit towards your remaining PG&E bill for the energy you send to the grid

  • Your battery system will reserve 20% for backup energy needs‡

  • In the event of an outage, all energy from your battery system will be available to power your home



Please read the FAQs and the entire program Terms & Conditions for more information.

FAQs

Sunrun will automatically enroll eligible customers in the Lights On Silicon Valley program. Before the launch of the program eligible customers will receive an email with program information and a link to opt out before program testing or operation begins. 

If you think you are eligible and did not receive an email or wish to confirm your enrollment status, please email grid_ops@sunrun.com

If you are eligible and would like to opt out for any reason, please click the opt-out link included in an email sent to you by Sunrun or send an email directly to grid_ops@sunrun.com (please include your Sunrun account number and/or name and home address).

*You can opt out any time, however if you opt out after December 15, you may participate in at least the first day of the program (January 1), as it may take a few business days for us to unenroll your battery system. It is possible your system may participate in test events prior to program launch on January 1.

Different types of home batteries (including Tesla, SolarEdge, and LG) behave slightly differently.

LG and SolarEdge: LG and SolarEdge batteries in SVCE's service territory are pre-programmed to maximize bill savings. This is possible by charging and discharging energy in accordance with your residential electric rate, while preserving 20% during discharge for backup power (in an outage, all energy from your battery system is available to you). This helps lighten the strain on the grid and allows battery customers to use and export stored energy instead of paying high prices for an equivalent amount of electricity from the grid. Lights On Silicon Valley is a similar structure, with exclusive rewards for discharging over the term of the program. In this program, all LG Chem and SolarEdge batteries will be signaled to discharge from 5-9 p.m. PT each weekday, including holidays.

Powerwall:

Tesla Powerwall batteries can be individually customized by each homeowner, for instance, to maximize self-consumption or maximize backup power.‡ By participating in this program, Powerwalls will still be responsive to your custom settings while optimizing for savings and helping reduce grid strain in the evening hours.

From 5-9 p.m. starting January 1, 2024, your participating Powerwall(s) will be signaled to discharge available energy to your home and to the grid until reaching your backup reserve margin.

‡Your backup reserve will be set to 20% initially and may be reset periodically to optimize for savings and grid support, but you can otherwise customize it any time. In the event of an outage, all energy from your battery system will be available to you.

A portion of your battery will be reserved strictly for backup power at all times. If your home is affected by a grid outage, all the energy in your battery will be available for your use until the grid is back online.

Sunrun monitors critical alerts when severe weather, public safety power shutoffs, or energy emergency alerts are detected in your area. When a critical alert is in place, such as a severe weather alert issued by the National Weather Service, systems will be placed in an “outage preparedness” status. This means your battery will be signaled to charge from your solar system and may discharge only a reduced amount or withhold discharging altogether for this program until the storm has passed. This helps maximize your battery backup in the event of an outage.

Each year you participate in the program, you will receive a $75 reward. Each year at the annual anniversary of the program you will receive an email from Sunrun Rewards Center with instructions to obtain a prepaid Visa Gift Card by mail or electronic delivery. 

Note that opting out of the program means you will forego your annual $75 Visa Gift Card reward♱. 

♱Some customers received their reward as an upfront payment and will not be eligible for ongoing annual payments. 

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