Overview

As part of the New York State Department of Public Service (DPS), the Reforming of Electricity Vision (REV) is an initiative designed to implement technologies which should improve resiliency, reliability, quality, efficiency, and performance of the grid while advancing the adoption and use of clean electricity. In the context of NY REV, this project analyzes the distribution impacts of PV, energy storage, and load management on the Queens College campus. In addition, it quantifies the potential value associated with these technologies on the distribution system and the impact of an optimal control algorithm. This project runs in conjunction with EPRI’s DOE SHINES award (Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage) project.

DOE SHINES[1]

The Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV (SHINES) program develops and demonstrates integrated photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage solutions that are scalable, secure, reliable, and cost-effective.

The projects work to dramatically increase solar-generated electricity that can be dispatched at any time – day or night – to meet consumer electricity needs while ensuring the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid. Achieving the SHINES goals is a critical step in the pathway towards enabling hundreds of gigawatts of solar to be integrated reliably and cost-effectively onto the electric grid. SHINES is part of the Energy Department’s Grid Modernization Initiative, which aims to accelerate the strategic modernization of the U.S. electric power grid and solve the challenges of integrating conventional and renewable sources, while ensuring a resilient energy system combining energy storage with central and distributed generation.

SHINES Approach

This is the first funding program within the Department of Energy focusing exclusively on connecting renewable power to storage. The solutions developed under this program incorporate dynamic load management, advanced forecasting techniques, utility communication and control systems, and smart buildings and smart appliances to work seamlessly to meet both consumer needs and the demands of the electricity grid. These solutions will enable widespread sustainable deployment of low-cost, flexible, and reliable PV generation, and provide for successful integration of PV power plants with the electric grid.

SHINES Objective

The widespread adoption of storage solutions will be a transformative influence on the current state-of-the-art of solar grid integration and will significantly contribute to an economically viable pathway toward energy efficient and sustainable integration of solar generation at much higher penetration levels than currently possible today. These solutions will enable widespread sustainable deployment of reliable PV generation and provide for successful integration of PV power plants with the electric grid at the system levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of less than 14 cent per KWh.

CUNY-Queens College Site

The Summit Building at CUNY-Queens College is served by three 100 kVA 27 kV/21V transformer banks, isolated from other campus loads. Building maximum and minimum loads are 360 kW and 90 kW respectively. Hosting capacity calculation method for network circuit is not fully developed yet. Sensitivity study showed that up to 25 MW PV can be accommodated without causing any voltage issues on the primary and secondary side of the transformer bank.