DTE Energy and battery maker sonnen announced on 29 October 2026 that Michigan's first residential battery virtual power plant (VPP) is starting. The two-year pilot, approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission, will connect nearly 100 homes in Ann Arbor through their sonnen batteries and let the utility coordinate them as one grid resource.
Dutch startup Ona has launched a €165 kit that turns an ordinary split air conditioner into a price-aware heater. The idea, described by IO+ on 29 October 2026, is simple: run the air conditioner in the afternoon when electricity is cheap, let the concrete walls, floors and ceilings soak up the heat, and coast through the expensive evening hours on
Anker SOLIX announced a large software update for PowerOS, the energy management system behind its Solarbank balcony solar batteries and the SOLIX X home storage series, on 29 October 2026. The rollout of the first features starts in October, with more planned for December. The update covers all existing Solarbank models, including first and second
ecobee, the smart thermostat maker owned by Generac since 2021, announced Home Summary on 29 October 2026. It is an opt-in feature in the ecobee app that uses AI to turn a day of activity from the thermostat, security devices and home energy system into one short written summary. The rollout to customers starts the same day.
Google published a new set of Google Home release notes on 29 October 2026. Most of the list is bug fixes, but two changes matter for anyone running Matter devices through Google Home, and a speaker fix will interest people who have already moved to a Wi-Fi 7 router.
Sungrow, the PV inverter and energy storage maker, launched PowerHarbour in Australia on 28 October 2026 at All-Energy Australia in Melbourne. It's an all-in-one residential system that puts the inverter, energy management and stackable battery modules together, and in some configurations an EV charger too. Sungrow ties the launch to Australia's fa
With a dynamic price contract, the energy part of your bill follows the wholesale market instead of a fixed rate. Cheap hours get cheaper, sometimes close to zero or below, and the evening peak gets more expensive. Whether that saves money depends almost entirely on one thing: how much of your consumption you can move, and whether you move it autom
A smart plug is the cheapest way to automate something and the easiest way to find out what a device really uses. It is also the product category where it is easiest to buy the wrong thing: a plug that only works through an app and a remote server, a relay too weak for a heater, or a metering chip that reports once a minute when you wanted live dat
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published the details of its Warm Homes Loan Scheme on 27 October 2026. The government-backed loans cover solar panels, home batteries, heat pumps and a few other clean energy upgrades, with no upfront cost and the payments spread over several years. Some of the loans are interest free. The scheme
