Energy Storage, Microgrids, Solar  -  March 29, 2019

City of Medford to add solar + storage microgrid

The City of Medford will install a microgrid energy management system at the city’s Department of Public Works. The system includes a 235kW PV solar array, which has already been installed, a 100kW/255kWh NEC Distributed Storage Solution (DSS) and an emergency generator.

The City applied for and was awarded a Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative Grant of $833,000, which will fund the project. According to a statement, “The grant funds the comprehensive microgrid and energy storage system demonstration project and is one of several that the Commonwealth is supporting to prove the value of distributed renewable energy technologies for municipal preparedness in extreme conditions. The project will result in a resilient and highly efficient operations center to serve the City and its residents in any conditions, including loss of grid power.”

Solect Energy was awarded the competitive RFP contract to engineer, procure, install, and service the system. “The Microgrid system will enable us to make great strides in our goal of highly efficient and resilient buildings,” said Mayor Stephanie M. Burke. We look forward to collaborating with Solect on this project and demonstrating to the Commonwealth and the citizens of the City of Medford, the value of distributed renewable energy systems.”

The microgrid’s solar + storage combination will lower expensive demand charges for the city, which can account for up to 70% of a commercial customer’s electricity bill in Massachusetts. In addition, the City can take full advantage of the storage capacity to more effectively participate in a range of Demand Response programs to further reduce operating expenses.

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