U.S.  Department of Energy to invest US$8.5 million in stage III SEGIS projects

Steven Chu, U.S. Energy Secretary, revealed that the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories will be endowing US$8.5 million to four projects that reached stage III of the solar energy grid integration systems (SEGIS) program. The investment made by the Laboratory will be matched more than one-to-one by the SEGIS contractors.

The SEGIS selections made today include:

•Florida Solar Energy Center of the University of Central Florida: The Florida Solar Energy Center has partnered with Satcon Technology, Sentech, SunEdison, Cooper Power Systems, Northern Plains Power Technologies and Lakeland Electric Utilities and has been granted US$660,329, to concentrate on the development of a larger shared inverter that will service several residential or commercial PV systems.
 
•Petra Solar South: Petra has teamed up with the University of Central Florida, Public Service Electric & Gas, Pepco Holdings and BP Solar to investigate utility-grid interactivity, system reliability and safety through a lower cost, easy to install modular inverters. The project will be receiving US$2,729,712.

•Princeton Power: First Energy, Center for Power Electronics Systems, International Battery, Tectonic and Process Automation have all partnered with Princeton Power and will receive US$2,729,897, to finalize their design for a 100kW “demand response inverter”. The inverter is based off of Princeton’s circuit designs and new components.

•PV Powered: Awarded US$2,408,276, PV Powered, Portland General Electric, Northern Plains Power Technologies and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories will  delve into  the advancement of controls and communication technologies, which facilitate the communication of PV systems and power utilities.

"Continuing to support solar and grid technologies is necessary in order for America to maintain its competitive edge in the clean energy industries," said Secretary Chu. "These types of projects will help ensure that our efforts to advance renewable energy and support the modernization of our electrical grid are coordinated and integrated, helping to provide Americans with reliable, clean energy at lower costs."