能量储存管理研究和测试站点（The Energy Storage Management Research and Testing (SMRT) site）组建了一个团队来共同开发亚利桑那州太阳能项目，团队成员包括：SOLON（德国太阳能发电公司）、Tucson电力（TEP）、亚利桑那州大学的太阳能研究所。Saft近日也加入了这一团队，为系统提供锂离子电池，用来进行今年秋天开始的第二阶段电池方面的各种测试。
SMRT站点由SOLON公司建设了一套1.6MW的太阳能电站，该电站可以接纳各种储能技术或者能替代储能技术的新技术进行测试。今年8月开始的第一阶段测试中，测试了由亚利桑那大学的师生设计并制造的压缩空气储能技术。
What types of big batteries or other energy storage systems will work best with renewable energy and the existing grid to ensure reliable power supplies in the future? A two-year research project under way in Arizona is seeking the answer to that question.
The Energy Storage Management Research and Testing (SMRT) site is being developed through a team effort involving German solar power company SOLON, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE) at the University of Arizona. Saft Batteries is now the latest to come on board, providing lithium-ion batteries to help support the various tests to take place.
The project’s goal is to test how well different energy storage technologies can work with photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to provide reliable power for the grid. Knowing the best strategies can help utilities make the most of their growing renewable portfolios, which — while providing clean energy — can be harder to manage because of their intermittent nature.
“Storage for renewable energy will be essential for utilities, as they increase the penetration of clean energy generation into the utilities’ grids,” said William Richardson, SOLON’s director of research & development for SOLON Corporation.
The SMRT site (sounds like a James Bond-type organization, doesn’t it?) features a 1.6-megawatt (MW) solar plant built by SOLON that can have accommodate a variety of new or replacement storage technologies for testing. The first phase, launched this August, began with a compressed-air energy storage (CAES) technology that was designed and built by faculty and students at the University of Arizona.
CAES appears to be a good option for longer-term energy storage that can “save up” solar power for hours, days, weeks or longer. On the other hand, lithium-ion batteries might prove the better choice for managing short-term variability — ie, dealing with on-and-off fluctuations in solar power caused by passing clouds. Advanced batteries from Saft are due to arrive at the test site this fall for phase-two tests.
“Reliance on solar, wind and other renewable resources is on the rise, making this a fundamental opportunity to assess Saft’s Li-ion technology and its capabilities,” said Blake Frye, vice president of sales, Energy Storage, for Saft North America.
Additional technologies are scheduled for testing next spring.