FreeVolt and Apparent, INC. partner to enable consumers to generate, use, and sell energy

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Solar is not what it used to be, and ratepayers are the ones left holding the bill. On August 1, 2019, two California companies – FreeVolt USA, and Apparent, Inc. – announced they are developing a partnership to provide clean and affordable power to the people.

In order to save money and protect against consistent electricity rate hikes, many California homeowners and businesses are trying to install solar energy systems. In the past, these systems had the ability to defray most, if not all, of a customer’s utility bill, but recent changes by investor-owned utilities, munis, and community choice aggregators have made that challenging by eliminating net metering and adding inverse time-of-use rates, demand charges, and rate increases.

Adding energy storage can help mitigate these issues, but homeowners and businesses are still left with a significant annual electric bill from their local utility.

Palm Desert, CA-based FreeVolt USA, the United States headquarters for global solar panel manufacturer, FreeVolt, is developing a partnership with Apparent, an energy management company headquartered in Novato, CA. FreeVolt and Apparent plan to team up to aggregate highly efficient behind-the-meter distributed energy resources, combining FreeVolt’s proprietary high-efficiency PV Graf solar panels with Apparent’s machine-learning enterprise software and connected hardware (PV and storage).

This intelligent energy solution has the potential to decrease electricity bills by 30% and is also enabled to meet future opportunities to participate in the wholesale energy market, meaning access to additional revenue streams in exchange for providing essential grid services.

“This has never been done at the residential level in California,” said Jeremy Roos, Chief Revenue Officer for FreeVolt USA. “It is exciting to be the first company to truly bring power to the people.”

Homeowners, as well as commercial and industrial customers, can participate in this game-changing partnership by installing an advanced FreeVolt PV+Storage system managed by Apparent. FreeVolt’s panels, which are manufactured in Europe, incorporate Graphene, a highly conductive Carbon derivative which boosts output efficiency by 35%.

Under the partnership, the FreeVolt PV+Storage systems will be managed by Apparent’s enterprise software, the intelligent grid operating software or igOS, which uses machine learning to identify and signal to a solar or storage appliance when and how to operate. The pairing of FreeVolt’s and Apparent’s technology will generate carbon-free energy via the solar system, actively optimize the energy profile of the home or business, and utilize storage to reduce demand charges customers currently face in order to reduce the cost of energy.

“We are incredibly pleased to be working towards a partnership with FreeVolt, as it will allow Apparent to engage in the clean energy space in the Coachella Valley and beyond,” said Jacqueline DeSouza, President of Apparent. “Apparent’s mission is to enable clean energy today and the Electric Economy of the future. FreeVolt will bring us one step closer to that vision.”

When aggregated, FreeVolt’s intelligent energy systems managed by Apparent will also be ready to participate in the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) wholesale energy market as a Distributed Energy Resource Provider. This means customers can sell the energy they are generating from their solar but not using. This program is currently still under formation but when implemented, the FreeVolt PV+Storage systems managed by Apparent are ready to participate.

Data and market trends have shown that without a doubt, the future of the world is electric – now is the time to embrace a green solution that benefits you and your bank account. Residents that wish to participate should contact FreeVolt directly at (760) 345-0080 or by going to www.FreeVolt.com.