Sustainable energy company SunPower has unveiled a remote operations control centre (ROCC) for monitoring and operating large-scale PV power plants that SunPower holds in the US, including installations that are sold to 8point3 Energy Partners LP, a YieldCo joint venture established by First Solar and SunPower.
The ROCC is also being used to monitor operations at solar power plants that SunPower has developed in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia.
Tom Werner, SunPower CEO and president, said: “SunPower's remote operations control centre is designed to optimize energy production at our solar power plants, allowing utilities and power plant owners to better manage their energy. Increasingly, utilities are adding solar to their energy mix to provide their customers with reliable, cost-effective and emission-free energy.”
The ROCC consists of eight staff members who offer monitoring services on a year-round basis. The centre is compliant with North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), including critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards.
Werner added: “As an energy services provider, our ROCC enables SunPower to be a good manager of the utility grid, and enhance safety at our power plant sites. It is scalable to accommodate the anticipated continued growth of our global power plant fleet.”