Swell

An Energy Storage System (ESS) is a stationary battery that stores electrical energy and discharges it as needed for a building/facility. An ESS may be charged and discharged strategically to lower electricity demand during different times of day to reduce customer energy bills. It can also be used to provide backup power in case of a power outage.

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Technology Basics Application Guidance

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Swell

Swell Energy provides homeowners and businesses with financing and virtual power plant programs, while partnering with local solar and solar+storage companies for product installations. Swell offers customers to join their virtual power plant (VPP) program, which virtually connects a customer’s distributed energy resources to a network of other swell customers. The network is then used to provide energy services to utilities in exchange for profits which are distributed throughout the VPP network. For more information on Swell’s energy storage offerings, visit their website at https://www.swellenergy.com/.

Hub Highlights:

99 SGIP projects approved since 2017
Financing/ownership structures offered: Cash, lease, power purchase agreement, loan, CPACE loan
Installation locations/configurations: Indoor - wall mount or freestanding; Outdoor - parking garage, freestanding, or remote location

Last Edited on: 06/05/2023

Data Source	All info is directly from providers unless otherwise specified
Number of approved SGIP projects since 2017	99
Grid service capabilities	Demand charge management Time-of-use (TOU) arbitrage Resource adequacy Backup power Other: Custom contracts with IOUs and CCAs for regional resources supplied via BTM VPP aggregation services with our DERMS platform
Financing or ownership structures offered to customers	Cash transactions Leasing Power purchase agreements Loan; CPACE Loan
Who is responsible for performing maintenance?	Outside service provider and/or customer
Resiliency/integration features included with the ESS	PSPS event anticipation Storm watch/anticipation Dynamic load shedding Integration of generator at a system level Operate solar for recharge during an outage
Certifications and protocols held	UL 9540, UL 9540A Testing, UL 1973, UL 1741 SA, UL CRD - Import Only(pending), UL CRD - Export Only(pending)
Alarms included and who is alerted	Fire alarms - customer and provider Gas leak detection - N/A Theft alarm - N/A System outage - customer and provider
System benefits reported to customers	Financial benefits reported monthly and annualy. Customers may access reports through their online account.
Installation locations/configurations	Indoor - Wall Mount Indoor - Freestanding Outdoor - Parking Garage Outdoor - Freestanding Outdoor - Remote Location

Last Edited on: 07/2023

Data Collection

The UC Davis ESS evaluation team surveyed individuals who applied for the SGIP incentive for installing Swell energy storage at their commercial facilities.

Sample Size

Scoring

A 5-point rating (1-5) for each subscale was calculated as the simple scores of the assessment metric subsections below. Higher scores (closer to 5) mean a better (estimated) user experience.

Installation

It was easy to schedule the installation; I was very satisfied with the speed of installation; Integrating the ESS with other onsite systems required a lot of our time and effort; Permitting the storage system required a lot of our time and effort; Provider took care of connecting the storage system to our building systems.

Performance

The ESS operates well; The ESS has had performance issues; The ESS is reliable; I am satisfied with the price of the ESS; I am satisfied with the financial benefits of the ESS; I am satisfied with the reports generated by the ESS; I wish the ESS provided more detailed information about its operations; I am satisfied with the remote safety features (e.g., fire alarm and system outage) of the ESS.

Maintenance

It is difficult to find a service provider that performs maintenance; I am satisfied with the frequency of maintenance requirements; I am satisfied with the cost of the maintenance requirements; I am satisfied with the level of effort required of our organization to adhere to the maintenance requirements; The ESS is easy to maintain; Maintenance requires special tools; Maintenance requires special training.

Usability

System Usability Scale (SUS): I found the system unnecessarily complex; I thought the system and service was easy to use; I think that I would need more technical support to be able to use the system and service; I found the various functions in this system and service were wll integrated; I though there was too much inconsistency in the system and service; I would imagine that most people in my role would learn to use this system and service very quickly; I found the system and service very cumbersome or awkward to use; I felt very confident using the system and service.

General Satisfaction

Overall, I am satisfied with the ESS; If my organization needed another energy storage system, I would select this one again; I would recommend the ESS to others; I am satisfied with the company's customer service.