Renewable Energy Systems (RES) will utilize SMA technology for a 1 MW battery pilot project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), the nation’s premier wind energy technology research facility.
Using the proven RESolve® energy storage system, the project will test various components of energy storage and educate the public on how energy storage can create a more stable, secure U.S. electric grid and accommodate increasing amounts of clean, renewable energy.
“We truly value the opportunity to work with RES on this project,” said Volker Wachenfeld, executive vice president of SMA’s Storage business unit. “Energy storage is essential to the future of solar and the electric grid as a whole, and this project will give the public and the industry a place to study and better understand how storage works.”
The test site utilizes a Sunny Central Storage unit, SMA’s power conversion system for large-scale battery storage systems. These systems enable the integration of large amounts of intermittent renewable energy into the utility grid while maintaining grid stability. The Sunny Central Storage is compatible with different types of battery technologies.
“RES is proud to work with SMA, a global leader in large-scale inverters, on this important demonstration project,” said Victor Babbitt, RES Global Head of Supply Chain, Energy Storage.
Upon completion, research staff will use various applications of the system to test certain modes ranging from frequency regulation to renewable energy integration.
The NWTC is located south of Boulder, Colo., and construction for the test system is estimated to be completed this month.
About SMA
The SMA Group with sales of around €1 billion in 2016 is the global market leader for solar inverters, a key component of all PV plants. SMA offers a wide range of products and solutions that allow for high energy yields for residential and commercial PV systems and large-scale PV power plants. To increase PV self-consumption efficiently, SMA system technology can easily be combined with different battery technologies. Intelligent energy management solutions, comprehensive services and operational management of PV power plants round off SMA’s range. The company is headquartered in Niestetal, near Kassel, Germany, is represented in 20 countries and has more than 3,000 employees worldwide, including 500 working in Development. SMA’s multi-award-winning technology is protected by approximately 900 patents and utility models. Since 2008, the Group’s parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG, has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (S92) and is currently the only company in the solar industry that is listed in the TecDAX index. www.SMA-America.com
