Sumitomo in association with Nissin Electric, Sumitomo Densetsu and Meidensha has developed the new system, which consists of redox flow battery and 28 concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) units with a total power generation capacity of up to 200kW.
The system can also store electricity provided by power companies during the night by connecting to external commercial power networks.
Equipped with an energy management system (EMS), the system monitors the amount of CPV-generated electric power, battery storage and power consumption, and stores the data in the central server.
The system at Yokohama Works levels power consumption, enables stable power supply based on plans by combining a redox flow battery with solar power generators, controls the amount of electric power discharged from the battery according to electric loads, and balances fluctuations in solar power generation by charging/discharging the battery.
Sumitomo Electric also plans to start the demonstration test of a factory energy management system (FEMS), which combines the existing gas engine power generators with the redox flow battery and CPV units in the Yokohama Works.
The demonstration will be conducted in association with Meidensha, and will be the first attempt in the Yokohama Smart City Project.
The company is planning for the commercialization of these systems during the fiscal year 2013.
