Project will demonstrate cost-effectiveness of combined solar-storage integration on commercial buildings for peak demand reduction.
WINDSOR, CO - Sept. 9, 2010 –
Ice Energy, a leading provider of smart-grid enabled, advanced energy
storage solutions to the electric utility industry, will work with
SunPower Corp., (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), on a unique pilot project funded
by the California Public Utilities Commission that will combine its Ice
Bear energy storage technology with SunPower’s photovoltaic (PV) solar
systems.
The project, part of the California Solar Initiative’s
Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration Program, seeks to
demonstrate the economic and operational benefits of integrating
advanced energy storage systems with existing PV systems for peak demand
reduction directly on commercial buildings. Ice Energy is one of three
energy storage companies selected to participate in the program, which
will be implemented by SunPower in conjunction with PG&E, KEMA,
Sandia National Laboratories and a major national retailer.
“Think
of it as sun + ice + wind,” said Greg Tropsa, executive vice president
and co-founder of Ice Energy. “All three of these technologies have the
potential to be more valuable together than any single one of them
alone, and that’s what this project sets out to demonstrate.”
“As
the sun begins to set in the afternoon, the Ice Bear units will deliver
stored energy to bridge the gap between increasing building electrical
demand and decreasing solar energy production,” Tropsa explained. “The
project will demonstrate that the combination of solar and ice storage
will significantly reduce a building’s peak demand charge, saving money
for the consumer and helping the environment by reducing the need for
utilities to dispatch fossil fuel-fired peaking generators. The bonus is
the Ice Bear storage units are recharged during the off-peak hours,
absorbing wind and surplus low cost baseload generation.”
The
goal of the CPUC California Solar Initiative (CSI) is to create 1,940
megawatts of new, solar-produced electricity by 2016, moving the state
toward a cleaner energy future and helping to lower the cost of solar
systems for consumers. The CSI RD&D program provides grants to fund
solar research and demonstration projects that will measurably reduce
the cost and accelerate the adoption of solar, or other distributed
technologies, such as storage, that could employ solar, for alternative
generation, and reduce the use of natural gas and other fossil-fuel
generation.
ABOUT ICE ENERGY
Ice Energy is a
leading provider of advanced energy storage and smart grid solutions to
the electric utility industry. Founded in 2003, the company is dedicated
to transforming energy system efficiency and improving grid reliability
through the development of advanced technology solutions that promote
the efficient use of energy resources, reduce our dependency on fossil
fuels, and enable the transition to a cleaner, smarter, more sustainable
power grid. The company is headquartered in Windsor, Colorado, with
offices in Orange County and Sacramento, California. For more
information, visit www.ice-energy.com or follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/IceENRG.