SunPower Join forces with KB Homes to Power Solar-and Battery-Powered Microgrid Communities

SunPower Corp, in collaboration with University of California, Irvine (UCI), Schneider Electric, Southern California Edison (SCE) and KB Home, has announced the launch of Energy-Smart Connected Communities in Menifee, California. This state-of-the-art, all-electric development will feature over 200 solar-powered homes, equipped with individual battery storage and connected to a microgrid powered by a large community battery. The communities are designed to provide a blueprint for sustainable and resilient new home developments in the future.

These innovative homes have been designed to reduce carbon emissions, cut energy costs and provide new ways of producing reliable and resilient energy. The project has received a $6.65 million Department of Energy (DOE) grant, microgrid design and engineering support from Schneider Electric and strong collaboration with SCE to ensure a smooth transition between grid and off-grid electricity.

All 219 homes in the Durango and Oak Shade communities will be built to meet the Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Home criteria, which include ENERGY STAR, WaterSense, and Indoor airPLUS. These additional features could help homeowners reduce average energy use by up to 40%. Each home comes with a SunPower Equinox solar system designed to achieve net-zero energy, a 13kWh SunVault Storage battery, high-efficiency appliances, flexible loads such as electric heat pump water heaters and HVAC systems and other smart technologies such as Schneider Electric's Square D Energy Center and Connected Wiring Devices. All homes will be pre-wired to be smart Electric vehicle (EV) charger ready, and some will demonstrate bidirectional charging, which enables an EV to be an additional source of energy for the home during a power outage. EV chargers will be available for purchase at the time of sale.

The Energy-Smart Connected Communities offer a new vision for how individual homes interact with the electrical grid. Every home, while maintaining its regular service with local utility Southern California Edison, is designed to operate during an outage as part of a self-supporting microgrid, drawing energy from its own SunVault storage system as well as a large community battery. Together, they are designed to support critical loads such as lights, refrigeration, and WiFi, as well as additional high-capacity loads like HVAC and domestic hot water.

SunPower's additional energy services allow residents to enroll in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program through which their battery storage, EV chargers, and other flexible loads can automatically dispatch to support the electric grid. Enrolled homeowners may also benefit from reduced energy costs and increased resiliency during power outages.

About SunPower

SunPower is a leading provider of solar energy solutions in North America, offering a unique combination of solar panels and energy storage systems that give customers the ability to control their electricity consumption and maintain power during outages, while also reducing costs. Visit www.sunpower.com for more information.

About KB Home

KB Home is a well-established and reputable homebuilder in the United States, with a history of over 65 years and over 655,000 homes built. The company operates in 47 markets throughout the country and offers buyers the opportunity to personalize their homes to their liking, at a price that fits their budget. KB Home is a leader in energy-efficient homebuilding, being the first builder to make all of its homes ENERGY STAR® certified, a standard achieved by less than 10% of new homes in America, and has built more ENERGY STAR certified homes than any other builder. Energy-efficient KB homes are designed to save on ownership costs, be healthier, more comfortable, and better for the environment. KB Home places a strong emphasis on building strong relationships with its customers and is consistently ranked as the #1 customer-ranked national homebuilder in third-party buyer satisfaction surveys. Visit kbhome.com to learn more about how KB Home builds homes built on relationships.