CHICAGO --
The recent announcement by Standard Solar and Solar Grid Storage of
the completion of one of the first commercial-scale microgrids couldn’t
have come at a more appropriate time. It was just one year ago this week
that Hurricane Sandy struck, wreaking havoc across 24 states and
leaving widespread power outages in her wake — an occurrence that
Standard Solar CEO Tony Clifford cites as one of the reasons why
microgrids are dominating discussion among solar industry experts today.
Tom Leyden, CEO of Solar Grid Storage, emphasized the crucial need
for microgrid storage in the event of such natural disasters, pointing
out that solar power’s grid connectivity requirements have made it just
as vulnerable as traditional electricity. The answer, according to
Leyden, is combining solar PV and storage.
“When you add storage to PV,” Leyden said, “you’re able to keep that
PV system operating and provide emergency power indefinitely.” Leyden
believes that being able to add storage capacity to PV is far more
valuable than PV alone, calling it “the next big thing” in the solar
industry.
The collaborative project between Standard Solar and Solar Grid
Storage resulted in the building of a 400-kW solar deck atop a parking
structure at the headquarters of Maryland-based real estate firm
Konterra. The result was a PV array capable of producing clean
electricity while also having the flexibility to provide backup power
during outages.
Clifford indicated that the US Department of Defense has also been
great interest in the development of microgrids, specifically for the
continuity of power during terrorist attacks and other military actions
— a development that could bode well for future microgrid projects on a
much larger scale.
Emergency power issues aside, both men believe that being able to
provide effective, grid-interactive energy storage will be key to
enabling PV to go “mainstream” in the U.S.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/10/solar-pv-storage-the-next-big-thing
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