Hingham, Massachusetts is the site of a new microgrid located at the Russelectric manufacturing and innovation center.
The microgrid serves Russelectric’s 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and also acts as a hands-on demonstration area.
Interconnected with the Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant, the microgrid includes an emergency diesel back-up generator, a 200-kW AC rooftop solar photovolataic system, a 69 kW/137 kWhr Lithium-ion energy storage system, and the Russelectric Distributed Energy Controller (RDECTM), which manages the system.
Dynapower supplied the integrated energy storage system for this site — its MPS-250 inverter is mated to Samsung batteries.
Part of the Russelectric Innovation Center, the microgrid features a hands-on, interactive demonstration room with full data visualization and control capabilities, live controls and switchgear.
In test mode, the microgrid is switched to serve onsite load banks that simulate customer demand to test equipment performance in normal, high-stress, and failure scenarios.
In normal operation, the microgrid supports the company’s Massachusetts facility with back-up power and peak shaving capabilities.
“Facility energy managers today have unprecedented onsite power generation and load control options: backup diesel generation, fuel cells, combined heat and power, solar PV, storage, UPS, and more. Getting these options to work together, both during normal operations and in emergencies, requires robust power control solutions,” said Ed Malley, vice president of technology and innovation at Russelectric.
He added: “Most rooftop PV systems, for example, are designed to shut-down when the grid goes off-line. Our rooftop PV system is designed to remain on and to power our facility in off-grid, island mode.”
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Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Stephen Pike, who attended a ribbon cutting for the facility Thursday described the microgrid as an example of Massachusetts innovation.
“The development of this test center, which can analyze real-time scenarios and monitor performance data, will help drive technology breakthroughs and provide a hub for microgrid innovation,” he said.
Learn more about Massachusetts microgrids. Join us at Microgrid 2017, which will be held November 6-8 in Boston.
