Wednesday, 04 November 2009 12:36

Infotility, a developer of smart grid technology that allows for efficient integration of renewable power, has begun field testing in a project funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), in conjunction with The Marin County Office of Sustainability.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to commemorate the project launch in San Rafael, California.  The 3-year effort will focus on Infotility’s Renewables Integration, Smart Community Energy Manager, and Smart Facility Energy Manager software systems.  During field testing the smart grid-supporting software will coordinate and optimize renewable power sources on the power grid and interface with five public buildings at the Marin County Civic Centre.

The entire project will be conducted in three stages with each stage representing a progression of the software’s capability and integration of future technologies as they are developed.  Feedback from the local community will also determine how the stages progress.  Ultimately, the goal is to allow for utilities and communities to manage renewable power as a foundation for the overall power supply.

Funding is provided by the DOE in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.  In the first phase the successful integration of renewable power with an automated demand response system will be demonstrated. Throughout this stage a foundation for a regional smart grid implementation will be developed.

“Funding for this demonstration, and others like it, which focus on effectively integrating renewable resources into the electric grid, will move our country one step closer to meeting the goals of President Obama’s clean energy future,” said Eric Lightner from the DOE.

The Infotility project is one of the first to be sponsored by the DOE to enter the field testing phase.  It will serve as a foundation for smart grid and renewable technologies of the future.  Marin County has plans to extend the application to more than 1,000 commercial buildings and 5,000 homes and submitted a request for $90 million to the DOE for the extension.

“We are standing at the threshold of a new era in intelligent, interoperable management of renewable energy assets,” said David Cohen, CEO of Infotility.  “We are addressing the integration of solar energy, building energy management systems, distribution systems and energy storage.”

“This project begins to assess the impact of high levels of solar penetration and voltage regulation requirements on the grid,” explained Cohen.  “We are gratified that our software platforms are now being field tested in this preliminary demonstration project, and we look forward to continuing our pioneering role when SC2 evolves to a large-scale regional demonstration effort.”

The Marin Energy Authority wants to create a sustainable and renewable energy community in conjunction with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), a non-profit group that operates the state’s power grid.  Learning how to efficiently manage renewable energy and the local power supply based upon real-time pricing signals is essential to the fully functioning smart grid of the future.

Infotility
2060 Broadway, Suite 320
Boulder, Colorado 8030
http://www.infotility.com

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
P.O. Box 999
Richland, WA 99352
http://www.pnl.gov

Marin Energy Authority
3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 308
San Rafael, CA 94903
http://www.marinenergyauthority.org

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