Monthly Archives: June 2015
Making the Case for Microgrids
Written on June 23, 2015 at 6:58 am, by Nilsa Sweetser
Issue Believing it to be the first time that a microgrid has leveraged renewable energy to power an entire U.S. community, Sempra Energy utility, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) has reported that its microgrid kept Borrego Springs, Calif., an isolated desert community, fully energized during a planned grid maintenance event. SDG&E used NRG Energy’s nearby 26-MW facility Borrego Springs Solar facility, and batteries and traditional distributed generation to “follow the load” and fill in gaps created by the solar facility, providing uninterrupted power supply to all 2,800 customers in the area for approximately nine hours. Analysis There are (more…)…
Solar and Storage: A Match Made in DERs Heaven
Written on June 3, 2015 at 3:43 pm, by dcurran
Issue Tesla Motors, which shook up the electric vehicle sector when it launched the Tesla Roadster in 2008, recently unveiled its lithium ion battery (the “Tesla Powerwall”) for residential and utility-scale customer usage, with a particular emphasis on storing solar power. Tesla is now marketing its battery through SolarCity Corp., which designs, finances and installs solar energy systems. Tesla has also announced it will begin producing larger batteries for businesses and utility companies, listing projects with Oncor and Southern California Edison as it markets to other utilities. Analysis Make no mistake about it, this is huge news. The opportunities for the (more…)…