SHINE project installs integrated battery energy storage systems for two Florida homes
The Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar photovoltaic project (SHINES) recently installed fully integrated battery energy storage systems at the homes of two of Gulf Power’s west Pensacola customers.
SHINES is led by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), Southern Company and Gulf Power. The project has been using the two homes as demonstration sites since 2016 to test new distributed energy resource (DER) technologies for residential use.
The SHINES project installs a battery on the utility’s side of the meter to control when and how much solar is sent to the grid. This approach saves the customer from having to invest in and install their own battery systems, which may be cost-prohibitive for many consumers.
The SHINES team installed distributed battery energy storage systems that control when and how much solar is sent to the grid. The batteries integrate with the homes’ solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, weather forecasting, and onsite computerized controller which adjusts the homes energy use to sync with solar generation.
“The satellite weather forecasting technology detects approaching clouds and the controller uses that information to determine how to manage the loads in the homes,” Kimberly Blair, spokesperson for Gulf Power, said. “It can adjust the thermostats to precool the home, preheat the water heater, or turn off the pool pump in anticipation of the solar generation dropping off with the storm overhead. While the storm passes over, the customers’ excess renewable energy stored prior to the storm in the battery, takes over the home’s energy demand.”
Pensacola is one of three test sites for the SHINES project. The researchers will study the benefits and costs of the systems to customers and the grids. Gulf Power is also gaining insight regarding methods for integrating the growing volume of solar energy to the grid.
“This project speaks to the power of collaborative R&D,” Aminul Huque, EPRI’s principal technical leader on the project, said. “The technical and logistical support we have received from Gulf Power and other project stakeholders is key to demonstrating and quantifying the benefits and costs of an integrated grid.”
