City Looking Into Solar Photovoltaic Storage


Picture used for illustrative purposes only


By Mark Baratelli

(We told you this in February but the City sent out another press release today. Our February version has more information. See below.)

The City of Orlando has been selected as 1 of 10 teams nationwide to participate in the Solar Energy Innovation Network administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The City of Orlando will investigate approaches for deploying solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar PV plus storage to increase resiliency of municipal operations and achieve the 100% renewable energy goals set out in August 2017.

More specifically, the City of Orlando will complete the following specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound (SMART) project outcomes:
  1. Develop a roadmap to achieve 2030 goal of 100% renewable energy for municipal operations and 2050 goal of renewable energy city-wide.
  2. Transform roadmap into a guidance and policy package for resiliency and renewable energy readiness that can be utilized by other municipalities.
  3. Identify solar PV rooftop and ground-mounted generation capacity of Orlando municipal operations and community at large.
  4. Complete case studies of pilot solar PV technology system installations including storage on two municipal properties with the intent of broader replication.
  5. Create solar capability guidelines for new construction building codes, using municipal building and resiliency guidelines as a starting framework.
The City will expend $169,002.72 to carry this out. The city is receiving a grant award for $140,885.60, and contributing 20% of that amount ($28,117.12) to cover its matching requirements in the form of staff time. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory will also match this grant with additional technical and financial support.

The City will collaborate with Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), GreenLink Group, and the UCF's Florida Solar Energy Center (UCF FSEC) to carry out the above goals.
The Solar Energy Innovation Network (Innovation Network) is a collaborative research effort administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office that uses real-world data to address the long-term challenges of increasing the reliability and resilience of the electrical grid.

In order to address the nation’s rapidly changing electricity needs, data-driven research foundations and mechanisms need to be in place to inform future system designs across the multitude of locational conditions. The Innovation Network is designed to identify the systemic and unknown knowledge barriers preventing utilities, state and local authorities, regional planning commissions, and the solar industry from creating the innovative solutions needed to meet the country’s evolving demands for the electric grid.

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