SMUD will use a $4.3m US Department of Energy (DOE) grant to conduct the two-year pilot project to examine the value of distributed PV coupled with energy storage in 15 homes and three sites on SMUD’s distribution system within the community.
Saft’s Li-ion battery technology will provide energy storage so that solar power can be time shifted particularly when PV output drops off when the sun goes down. Saft’s Li-ion technology also meets the project’s need for 20-year battery life.
Saft’s Li-ion battery technology, which will be integrated into a 5kW renewable energy storage device, made by Silent Power, to store the excess energy generated by a homeowner’s solar power installation, will be composed of compact modules and provide 9kWh in an industrial design.
The modular battery design will have number of features including cycling capability and a self-diagnostic platform.
The company claimed that the high energy density battery will offer millisecond-level response time and high power capability – both in charge and discharge and provide information on the battery’s state-of-charge (SOC).
