Missouri University of Science and Technology – Lead battery solar microgrids

Consortium Launches Study of Lead Battery Solar Microgrids in Homes

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Missouri S&T EcoVillage Project

The Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) has joined other members of the Missouri S&T Microgrid Industrial Consortium to provide resources for the construction of advanced lead battery microgrids at the Missouri S&T EcoVillage. Two on-campus high-tech homes will act as ”living laboratories” for studying renewable energy sources – and storage – for communities of the future. The project’s duration is 2018 – 2021.

"This project will enrich the learning experiences of S&T students, while also deepening the knowledge of many stakeholders with the real-world application of a grid-tied residential system with solar power generation and energy storage.” Grant Grunewald, Engineering Support Manager, EnerSys

Goal

The demonstration microgrids will allow research on the performance of advanced lead batteries in a small solar-based microgrid and in the economic aspects of sharing energy at the local/neighborhood level.

Background

The Missouri S&T EcoVillage is a small neighborhood comprised of solar homes designed by S&T students for competition at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. The microgrids will initially power the 2013 and 2015 solar homes. The university plans to expand EcoVillage into a “community of tomorrow,” with a total of six solar houses that will help advance renewable energy microgrid research, sustainable infrastructure, and human technology interaction. The site will provide the capability for hands-on training in renewable energy and microgrid technologies.

Participant Contributions

*Based in Missouri:

• Missouri S&T* – Provided two solar homes used as living laboratories and a microgrid management system that allows power sharing between homes.
• CBI and The Doe Run Company* – Provided support for design and installation of batteries and development of the microgrid system.
• NorthStar* and EnerSys* – Provided each home with its own AC-coupled advanced lead battery back-up system.
• McClure Engineering* – Microgrid design
• Meyer Electric* – Project construction

Technical Specifications

Each house has an AC combiner and critical load distribution load center panel board. AC-coupled advanced lead battery back-up system consists of:

• 7 strings in parallel = 48V, 28 Cells, 67.5 kWh
• Battery racks and cabling from batteries to inverter

Unique charge algorithms on how to control the batteries Installations local to each house installed on existing 240/120V 2-pole single-phase utility feed include:

• Shed with poured-concrete pad
• Each shed has a glass front for public viewing of interactive screens that provide live power plant data
• 2 Sunny Island 6kW inverters per house at 12kW
• Sunny Island inverters were installed downstream of the main panel via 2 singlepole 50A CBs (one for each single 6kW Sunny Island)
• 2-pole sub panel 100A based on 12kW max load from Sunny Island inverters and PV arrays
• Rewiring of critical loads to be fed from the new sub-panel

"This project provides the opportunity to demonstrate the performance capability and longterm durability of advanced lead batteries as a critical component in the adaptation of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.” Dr. Frank Fleming, Co-Founder, NorthStar