EDF Renewables North America announced an agreement with Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and San Diego-based CollectiveSun to design, build, and operate an integrated energy system consisting of rooftop and carport solar, storage and electric vehicle charging. The integrated system consists of 847 kilowatt solar photovoltaic; 800 kWp/1,805 kilowatt hour onsite behind-the-meter battery storage; and 50 smart electric vehicle charging stations to be installed at the Sanford Burnham Prebys campus in San Diego.
EDF Renewables partnered with CollectiveSun, a company exclusively dedicated to helping nonprofits and tax-exempt organizations fund solar projects through their proprietary funding models. CollectiveSun provided a discount for the cost of the installation since it was able to utilize tax credits that were otherwise not available to Sanford Burnham Prebys due to its tax-exempt status. While CollectiveSun will initially own the system, an ownership option will be available to Sanford Burnham Prebys after six years.
Sanford Burnham Prebys is expected to save over $7 million in utility costs over the lifetime of the system.
Solar reduces utility costs while the battery storage shifts the solar generation into the evening on-peak period of expensive power. The storage system will also be used to mitigate spikes in usage thereby lowering utility demand charges. The smart EV charging platform is designed to flatten charging consumption and shift the consumption into the middle of the day to align with solar production. The integrated system is tailored to the facility’s energy characteristics, turning the solar carport and EV charging stations into a sustainable clean energy asset that reduces operational energy costs with no up-front capital costs
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This project contributes to EDFR’s growing portfolio of integrated energy systems in San Diego and could also provide Virtual Power Plant (VPP) grid services to support Community Choice Aggregation.
The integrated solar carport and battery energy storage system will be operated by EDF Store and Forecast Energy Management System (EMS). The software platform has been deployed on over 129 MWh of integrated renewable and energy storage systems globally and is controlling EDFR’s growing portfolio of systems throughout the San Diego region.
The EV charging system will be installed by PowerFlex, an EDF Renewables Company, using their Adaptive Load Management (ALM) technology. This patented technology, developed out of Caltech, maximizes the delivery of power to electric vehicles while reducing or eliminating the need for costly utility upgrades by managing charging dependent upon driver’s demand, building load, onsite generation.
— Solar Builder magazine
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