Solar + Battery in Connecticut: Three Ways to Get There
If you're weighing a home battery in Connecticut, there isn't just one way to do it. There are really three: let a financing partner own the equipment for you, buy a name-brand system and manage the incentives yourself, or go the straight cash/loan route and own everything outright from day one.
Here's how I walk homeowners through all three — including the one I can't personally sell, but will absolutely help you evaluate.
Option 1: SOLRITE's Virtual Power Plant Power Purchase Agreement (VPA)
SOLRITE's VPA flips the traditional sales model. SOLRITE owns the solar and battery equipment on your roof and in your garage. You don't take out a loan, you don't put money down, and you're not the one holding the bag if a battery fails five years in. In exchange for hosting the equipment, you get backup power during outages and a lower monthly energy cost. The revenue SOLRITE earns from grid services — including Connecticut's storage incentive program — is what pays for the hardware, not your wallet.
This is the option with the least homeowner risk. You're trading equity in the equipment for a lower, steadier bill and zero ownership headaches.
Option 2: Tesla Powerwall + Tesla's Virtual Power Plant
Tesla runs its own Virtual Power Plant, layered on top of Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) program. Depending on whether you buy, finance, or lease the Powerwall, you either own the asset yourself or lease it from Tesla. Once it's enrolled, Tesla's VPP calls on your battery during grid stress events and you're compensated for the capacity and energy it contributes — on top of whatever the state's ESS program pays for enrollment and performance.
I'll say this plainly: I'm not a Tesla dealer, and I can't sell you a Powerwall. What I can do is run the numbers alongside your other options so you can see, apples to apples, whether owning or leasing a Tesla system beats the alternatives for your roof and your usage. If it does, I'll tell you that.
Option 3: A straight cash or loan solar-plus-battery system
This is full ownership from day one — no third party on the title, no lease payments, no revenue-sharing arrangement. You buy the solar and battery outright (or finance it with a standard loan), you own the tax credit, and you keep every dollar the system generates, including whatever Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions program pays out once your battery is enrolled.
It's the highest up-front commitment of the three, but also the one where you keep 100% of the long-term upside — the incentive payments, the bill savings, and the equity in the system itself.
Where Connecticut's incentive program fits into all three
All three routes touch the same state infrastructure: the Energy Storage Solutions program run jointly by Eversource, United Illuminating, and the Connecticut Green Bank. As of April 1, 2026, that program moved to its newer "Construct 5" structure — the old upfront, pre-scheduled dispatch track went away, and it's now built around active dispatch: an enrollment incentive when your system comes online, plus ongoing performance incentives paid out for however much capacity your battery actually delivers during summer and winter events.
Who collects those payments depends on who owns the battery:
SOLRITE VPA: SOLRITE handles enrollment and collects the incentive on the back end — you just see the lower bill and the backup power.
Tesla Powerwall: the incentive flows to whoever owns the battery — you, if you bought or financed it, or Tesla, if you're on one of their discounted leases.
Cash/loan system: the incentive is yours, in full, since you own the equipment outright.
Whichever path you take, I'll always offer to get your battery enrolled in this program — it's extra money for you, and it doesn't cost you anything to find out what you'd qualify for. And even for homeowners who'd rather not deal with enrollment at all, an unenrolled battery still helps: every home battery on the grid adds a little more resilience for the whole Shoreline during a heat wave or a storm-driven outage, whether or not it's earning incentive payments.
Where Black Hall Sun comes in
I'm not tied to one hardware brand or one ownership structure. As an independent advisor, I can walk you through all three paths side by side and show you the actual numbers for your roof, your usage, and your utility rate class before you sign anything — including the Tesla option, even though it isn't one I sell directly.
If backup power and a lower bill with zero ownership risk is the priority, the SOLRITE VPA usually wins that conversation. If you want to own the asset and collect every incentive dollar yourself, a cash/loan system or a Tesla purchase is worth running the numbers on. Either way, making sure Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions program is part of the deal is exactly the kind of thing I do before a system ever gets designed.
Want to see what each path looks like for your specific home? [Reach out and I'll run all three scenarios for you.]