Virtual power plants can tap your smart devices to support main grid [Video]

By commandeering smart thermostats and water heaters and sipping power from in-home EV chargers, virtual power plants are being formed across the country. Here’s how they work and how they help green energy efforts.

You already know that a smart thermostat can help you save energy in your home and that an electric car can cut down on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. But you might not know that these pieces of technology can also help support the shift to greener energy by linking up to something known as a virtual power plant (VPP).

What is a virtual power plant?

As its name implies a VPP is more of a concept than a physical structure. The idea is to leverage existing technologies used by residents such as smart thermostats and solar power storage batteries known as distributed energy resources or DERs. These resources can be called into service to not only supply energy to power grids when …