Award Number: DE-EE0008776, CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6, Solar Energy Technologies Office, Location(s): CA, Office(s): Golden Field Office
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
July 2, 2019
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Award Number: DE-EE0008776
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6
Solar Energy Technologies Office
Location(s): CA
Office(s): Golden Field Office
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide funding to the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI) to design, develop, and demonstrate a novel distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) microgrid system (SOLAr Critical infrastructure Energization (SOLACE)) with storage capabilities and enhanced grid control capabilities. The project would focus on the development of several system capabilities, including flexible energy pathways, distributed management systems (DMS), solar/storage inverter integration, advanced load control, and advanced cyber-security features. These capabilities would be integrated into the SOLACE platform and the platform would be field-tested using an existing electrical pathway between an existing battery energy storage system (BESS) and an emergency communications center (ECC). Residential homes in the area would also be fitted with small devices to control electricity usage as part of the field-testing activities. The overall goal of the system would be to act as a backup source of electricity to allow critical infrastructure (e.g. such as the ECC that would be tested as part of the pilot) to continue to run in the event of unforeseen grid failure.