A battery energy storage system that helps improve the quality and reliability of the electric grid was officially brought online this week at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The battery uses a control system to inject or draw energy from the grid based on a signal from a utility.
The battery is part of the new GridSTAR Smart Grid Experience Center being developed at the Navy Yard spearheaded by Penn State and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., the Department of Energy and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The center will feature energy storage, a smart grid demonstration home, electric vehicle charging stations and an indoor-outdoor training facility, and will be used to illustrate functioning smart grid technologies for a variety of audiences.
Solar Grid Storage LLC played a role in the project and will help to manage the new system in a way that demonstrates the economic viability of energy storage systems.
One such project based in Laurel, Md., brought online October 15, features 400 kW of solar energy and a 500 kWh battery system.
The specific role of the GridSTAR battery will initially be to help maintain the frequency of AC power on the grid. In the future the device could be used to help smooth out solar photovoltaic energy produced at the Navy Yard and also to reduce peak demand energy costs.
