Integrating Building-Scale Solar + Storage Advanced Technologies Maximizing Value to Customer and the Distribution Grid
This project assessed the performance and benefits of integrated solar PV, battery storage, and microgrid control technologies for a small commercial building in San Leandro, CA.
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.
Recipient
Palo Alto, CA
Recipient Location
13th
Senate District
23rd
Assembly District
$1,375,603
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
The Issue
Regulatory and economic factors in California have accelerated penetration of rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) in the small commercial segment, benefitting facility managers in energy savings while helping to achieve California's renewable goals. However, uncontrolled and uncoordinated renewable generation creates issues with stability and reliability of the distribution grid. Given that implementation of PV, storage, and energy efficiency and energy management systems (EMS) technologies are typically siloed, synergistic benefits are difficult to realize. An integrated Distributed Energy Resource (DER) management approach is needed to balance commercial customer and grid requirements.
Project Innovation
This project assesses the performance and benefits of integrated solar PV and storage along with advanced energy efficiency, demand response, and distributed energy resource management technologies in a commercial building setting. The goal is to leverage the synergies of integrated and controllable components to improve distribution grid stability and reliability while also enabling the commercial customer to reduce both capital costs and operational and management costs for optimal value.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
Reduces grid stress and electricity demand during system peak, improves distribution capacity utilization, and reduces costs of distribution network upgrades.
Consumer Appeal
Provides commercial customers with greater ability to manage energy with off-the-shelf technologies.
Affordability
Reduces grid stress and expensive peak generation at during system peak, improves distribution capacity utilization, and reduces costs of distribution network upgrades.
Environmental Sustainability
Helps reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions associated with grid power, particularly when off-setting peak power.
Reliability
This project demonstrates reducing peak load in response to grid operator needs. If scaled, projects like this could help address over-generation periods and steep ramps in the evening by smart (dis)charging.
Key Project Members
David Eskinazi
Sunil Chhaya
Subrecipients
InTech Energy, Inc.
Gridscape Solutions, Inc.
R&B Technology (USA) Company, Inc.
Match Partners
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.
