The energy transition is changing how power is generated, distributed, managed and consumed. Building on its Everything as a Grid perspective, power management company Eaton's new Home as a Grid approach combines an intelligent home energy portfolio with strategic partnerships to help residential customers integrate, manage and benefit from renewable technologies.

Several factors are contributing to the transformation of home energy use - including the United States' renewed focus on clean energy deployments, a growing interest from homeowners in sustainable solutions, new technologies and an evolving regulatory landscape. These market forces are creating new opportunities to bring distributed energy resource (DER) capabilities behind the meter, or, in control of the user.

"For years the home has been thought of only in terms of its ability to receive power from the energy grid," said John Vernacchia, energy transition segment director - North America, Eaton. "The integration of renewable energy sources behind the meter and emergence of capabilities to support bi-directional flow of energy transforms our understanding of what is possible for the home as an energy source. Eaton's Home as a Grid approach is designed to help stakeholders across the spectrum realize the full range of possibilities this paradigm shift creates while enabling more effective integration and management of game-changing renewable resources."

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has updated the state energy code to require solar cells, or photovoltaic (PV) devices, on all new homes¹. At the same time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a final rule, enabling DER aggregators to compete in all regional organized wholesale electrical markets in an effort to enhance competition, encourage innovation and drive down costs for consumers².

Eaton's digital power management innovation, residential solutions and growing OEM partner integrations are designed to enable builders and installers in the residential sector to safely integrate more renewables, storage and electric vehicle infrastructure to their energy mix. These solutions can serve as DERs to support bi-directional energy flow and provide power back to the grid.

Eaton notes that customers seeking to build and expand their Home as a Grid capabilities can:

• Enable smarter real-time decisions and safeguard essential data in the integration of renewable solutions with Eaton's Brightlayer digital platform, which integrates connectivity, design, data science and cybersecurity
• Harness essential load management and behind-the-meter capabilities with Eaton's intelligent home energy portfolio, including energy management circuit breakers, Wi-Fi smart devices, solar-ready and smart load centers, cloud architecture and data services
• Benefit from a smart home ecosystem powered by Eaton's collaborations with industry leaders, including smart home providers such as Amazon and Alarm.com, demand response management system (DRMS) providers and energy aggregators such as Sunverge and Virtual Peaker, as well as utilities and DER integrators

1. Energy Commission Adopts Standards Requiring Solar Systems for New Homes, First in Nation, May 9, 2018
2. FERC Opens Wholesale Markets To Distributed Resources: Landmark Action Breaks Down Barriers to Emerging Technologies, Boosts Competition, Sept. 17, 2020

Source: Eaton