Microgrid News Highlights — November 30, 2016
Tesla Enters Global Microgrid Market with Solar Island Powered 24/7
Tesla and Solar City are tapping into the global renewable energy microgrid market. The newly united companies announced the completion of a solar plus battery storage project on the island of Ta’u in American Samoa last Tuesday, along with a video (see below). The Ta’u microgrid combines 1.4MW of solar PV and a 6MWh energy storage system made up of 60 of Tesla’s lithium-ion Powerpacks; which Tesla claims can keep the island powered for three full days without sun, with the battery storage able to fully recharge in just 7 hours of sunlight.
Naval Multi-Physics Lab Adds Ice Energy Storage to its Renewable Microgrid
Energy storage systems specialist Calmac has announced that the Naval Post Graduate School’s Integrated Multi-Physics Renewable Energy Laboratory (IMPREL) in Monterey, California had integrated the vendor’s ice-based energy storage technology into its on-site microgrid. Capable of operating in sync with the local power grid as well as autonomously, in ¨island¨ mode, Imprel is testing and evaluating the integration of a variety of energy storage technologies with local solar and wind power generation sources to create a microgrid. Combining the latest generation of ice-based thermal energy storage and renewable energy generation offers several advantages as compared to alternatives, such as lithium-ion battery-based energy storage systems (BESS), according to proponents.
USAID to Provide $75 Million Loan Guarantee For Off-Grid Solar In India
RBL Bank and USAID recently announced a loan guarantee program worth $75 million to support off-grid and rooftop solar power projects in India. The program is also expected to cover energy efficiency projects pursued by small and medium-sized enterprises. A number of foreign entities, including development banks, have committed financial support to India’s rooftop solar power market. India plans to have an installed rooftop solar power capacity of 40 GW by March 2022.
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