Wes Kennedy Just Updated “Energy Storage Finance.” Here’s What’s New.

The energy storage market moves fast, and lucky for us, HeatSpring instructor Wes Kennedy has kept pace.

The U.S. installed a record 57 gigawatt-hours of new battery storage capacity in 2025, a 29% increase over the previous year, and the industry is projected to add another 70 GWh in 2026, with just under 500 GWh expected on the grid by 2030, according to the SEIA Energy Storage Market Outlook. That kind of growth means the financial landscape for storage is evolving just as fast, with new incentive structures, new contract models, and new market opportunities emerging constantly.

Wes has been deep in it. As an application engineer working on storage projects every day, he’s updated his “Energy Storage Finance” course with entirely new recordings that reflect where the market actually is right now.

What’s new in the course

The updated content covers the full picture of storage finance, from residential to utility scale, with a sharper focus on what’s changed in the last year or two.

On the policy side, Wes walks through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in plain terms. Solar and storage have officially split paths. The solar ITC is heading toward sunset, but storage has been extended through 2033. He breaks down the ITC adders available for domestic content and energy communities, how bonus depreciation works in practice, and the FEOC compliance rules that determine whether a project qualifies at all. These rules have real teeth, and Wes explains exactly what to watch for when sourcing equipment.

For residential installers, the course covers how the decline of net metering, time-of-use rate structures, and the rise of virtual power plants are reshaping the value proposition of home batteries. State programs get their own dedicated section, with current numbers from California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program 3.0, and newer programs in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois.

On the commercial side, Wes digs into how to read a utility bill to size a system, why solar-plus-storage consistently outperforms either technology alone for demand charge reduction, and how to model a real project using tools like Energy Toolbase. He also covers the financial structures behind larger C&I deals, including offtake contract terms that can make or break a project and the evolution of PPA models from simple backup arrangements to firm-delivery contracts.

The course closes with the utility-scale picture and what Wes calls the elephant in the room – AI. Data center demand is now one of the single biggest drivers of storage deployment, and it’s reshaping everything from project finance to interconnection strategy.

Why now?

Commercial and industrial storage capacity jumped 42% in 2025. Approximately 48% of current storage on the grid is co-located with solar arrays, and that share is only growing. The business case for batteries has never been stronger, and the complexity of navigating incentives, contracts, and market structures has never been greater.

Wes has spent years doing this work in the field, and this course reflects it. If you’re building a solar and storage business, evaluating projects for clients, or just trying to stay current in a fast-moving market, this is a practical, no-nonsense place to get up to speed.

Get enrolled in the updated Energy Storage Finance course today!