OnDemand renewable energy solution allows electric co-op to store excess renewable energy and release power during peak demand hours. Silent Power is partnering with Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association on a demonstration project to install its energy storage technology at Wright-Hennepin’s corporate offices in Rockford, Minnesota.

Silent Power’s OnDemand device allows Wright-Hennepin to store excess renewable energy and release it back onto the grid during peak hours. Wright-Hennepin will install the Silent Power OnDemand system on existing wind and solar generation facilities at their Rockford facility in May. If the pilot is successful, there will be an expanded offering of Silent Power’s technology to Wright-Hennepin’s members later in 2011. The OnDemand system enables continued solar production along with backup power to an electric customer in the event of a power outage.

Storage technology is vital to the wide-scale deployment of renewable energy because while solar energy is at its highest around noon and wind energy production frequently occurs at night, consumer usage typically peaks between 4 pm – 7 pm. Energy storage lets renewables to be applied to peak demand, resulting in higher distribution efficiency at a lower cost.

Silent Power CEO Todd Headlee says his company “is pleased to support Wright-Hennepin’s efforts to increase its renewable energy use while satisfying customer demand for power. Electric cooperatives are on the frontlines of balancing cost with efficiency, and our OnDemand solution helps them achieve both.”

Mark Vogt, president and CEO of Wright-Hennepin says the partnership with Silent Power “is a natural next step in furthering our commitment to cleaner energy and lowering emissions. Silent Power’s ability to align renewable energy production with the power demand of our members is critical to providing them with clean, efficient and affordable energy.”

Silent Power manufactures and markets user-friendly distributed energy storage systems for the renewable energy and backup power markets. The company has developed what it calls “dispatchable storage solutions for grid-tied solar and electric vehicle charging applications, and its solutions are easily adaptable to any battery chemistry and utility advanced metering infrastructure or distribution automation communications platform.”  For more information, visit www.silentpwr.com.

Wright-Hennepin Electric Cooperative is a member-owned non-profit electric utility currently serving more than 46,000 electric accounts. For more information, visit www.whe.org.

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