The goal of the smart grid demonstration at Vermont Green Offices is to show the combined effect of PV and building control techniques on the electrical profile at the point of utility interconnect.
Vermont Green Offices is a smart building. It is a high performance passive solar building that was recently retrofit with active solar technology. It has a utility-intertied photovoltaic (PV) system and grid-connected storage – the infrastructure required for an AC-coupled microgrid application. The building has deferrable loads including an electric water heater and refrigerators for load shifted applications. The building has relays to control all lighting on the first floor. It has electronic sub metering for the renewable energy systems. It has ductwork and fans for night ventilation already connected with fans in place.
These green features are the infrastructure needed for a “smart green grid” application where the building can either flatten the load profile or adjust to the local utilities’ needs for dispatchable power during peak utility loads with the proper controls.
The building’s main tenant, Draker Labs, is a company that provides 3rd party monitoring for commercial scale renewable energy projects all over the world. The company has substantial experience in monitoring nearly all forms of renewable energy and has the knowledge needed for system control. The company has plans to install a ‘Net Energy’ package to show the renewable energy system’s generation in the context of the total system load. Draker Labs’ equipment has interfaced directly with utility meters in both California (PG&E) and Texas (CPS Energy).
Vermont Green Offices is currently looking for partners to further enable the smart grid build out in Burlington. Please click here to contact us for more information.
AC-coupled Battery Storage for Server Backup
A 123 Ah battery bank was installed as part of a backup power system for tenant servers in the server room. This system was installed instead of a backup generator to keep servers running in the event of a utility outage. This AC-coupled storage system can be controlled by BMS when properly integrated and will be part of Vermont Green Offices’ smart grid strategy.
Additional information on Vermont Green Offices’ Smart Grid upgrades coming soon.
