Overview
Our energy infrastructures is evolving as the proportion of renewable energy generation from such sources as solar and wind increases. The intermittent nature of these clean, renewable energy sources requires that we find ways to make such energy sources more useful, which is possible by employing storage technologies. These include batteries, pumped storage hydropower, flywheels, and compressed air driving turbines.
Renewable Micro Sources (RENMS) integrated with Small Scale Electrical Energy Storage System (SS-EESS) is an approach sometimes found at a home or installed on a community scale, and incorporates solar panels on rooftops with a battery system that provides consistent, uninterrupted power to a homeowner. Such systems can supply renewable energy to a neighborhood as well as to the grid.
Our Involvement
The Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy engages in systems modeling and analysis to explore the economic benefits of incorporating storage with renewable energy systems. The Small Wind Training and Testing Facility has a hybrid solar and wind system produces energy that is stored on a battery bank (on the right) along with supplying power to JMU campus.
