Lockheed supplying Li-Ion system to Chicago community microgrid demonstrator

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Visitors are shown around the control room of an existing microgrid project by Oncor and S&C Electric in Texas. Image: S&C Electric / Oncor.

A community microgrid in Chicago will be supplied with lithium-ion battery storage from aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin, allowing it to be ‘islanded’ from the local grid network.

Bronzeville, in the South Side of Chicago, is hosting a community microgrid built by utility Commonwealth Edison (ComEd). It is being developed with the help of a US$5 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and is acting as a demonstration of the technology and its uses.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

According to the utility, the ‘microgrid cluster’ is being built in an area which has 10 facilities that provide critical services to the town, with the project addressing energy security and resiliency in the local area as well as aiding the integration of renewable energy including solar PV.

The cluster, connected to an existing microgrid at the nearby Illinois Institute of Technology, includes distributed energy resources (DERs) installed in stages of 2.5MW, 4.5MW and 7MW successively. The DOE grants were awarded so that the project can trial and demonstrate microgrid control systems as well as how large amounts of solar and batteries can be integrated with microgrids.       

Lockheed Martin will supply a 2MWh energy storage system (ESS) based around its Gridstar Lithium technology. The company entered the stationary energy storage market a while ago with its lithium product while a much-talked about flow battery system’s launch is imminent. PV Tech's sister site Energy-Storage.News has reported on some recent supply deals for Gridstar Lithium systems, including a dozen solar-plus-storage projects with developer Cypress Creek and a 17MWh supply deal with Peak Power in April.

The Gridstar turnkey system can be configured from 100kW to multiple megawatts and includes batteries, controls software and balance of system components and is certified to UL 9540 standards. Lockheed Martin Energy is also now working in other areas including demand response and energy efficiency.

The Bronzeville microgrid has been designed so that it can be separated or ‘islanded’ from the local grid and continue to serve local communities with power in the event of network issues. ComEd, Illinois’ biggest utility with around four million customers, said the project will serve around 1,000 utility customers and is scheduled for completion next year.

According to a notice from the DOE on the award of grant funding, the islandable portion of the grid is configured so that it could be expanded at a later date. The DOE notice said the project should enable solar and storage to constitute 20% to 35% of the microgrid’s peak load. The goal of one part of the overall project is to determine how best to achieve the “seamless integration of these systems in utility grids”. ComEd said it will be studied for around 10 years once it is in operation.

While traditionally considered a solution for very remote settings without connection to a reliable local grid, several microgrid projects have been announced or already built in the US which serve communities with existing grid connections with more reliable energy supply. These include Oncor’s microgrid in Texas with S&C Electric and the Brooklyn-Queens microgrid for Con Edison (not to be confused with Commonwealth Edison) in New York State, which similarly integrates 12MWh of energy storage resources. On another related note, S&C Electric also recently conducted an 'islanding test' at a different microgrid in Illinois, running the facility for 24 hours without support from the grid

21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

October 8, 2025
US solar module prices jumped in Q3 2025 as developers scrambled to meet the 2 September 2025 safe harbour deadline for Investment Tax Credit (ITC) qualification, according to supply chain platform Anza.
October 8, 2025
Despite policy headwinds on the federal level, there is optimism for the future of the US solar and storage sector.
October 7, 2025
Solar PV will account for almost 80% of the 4.6TW of new renewable power expected to be added by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
October 7, 2025
Doral Renewables has secured a PPA with an unnamed 'corporate buyer' for its 430MW Cold Creek solar-plus-storage project in Texas.
October 7, 2025
US independent power producer (IPP) Arevon has begun operations at two utility-scale solar projects in Indiana.
Premium
October 6, 2025
Talon PV aims to be the first US company to safely manufacture TOPCon cells at scale, backed by European technology and a crucial First Solar licensing deal.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK