SAN JOSE—Pairing Tesla's Powerpack battery with a 350 kW commercial rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system will cut a building's total energy costs by 80 to 95%. Sprig Electric is now among the first electrical contractors in the nation to install the Powerpack battery at its corporate headquarters in San Jose to optimize energy savings. Both rebates and tax credits are available to Sprig for the battery system purchase.
The components of the system include 1,177 solar panels that are spread over 20,000 square feet of the building's rooftop. The 500kWh/250 kW Tesla Powerpack battery system is installed in the Sprig Electric parking lot and is connected to the grid and the PV system. In addition to five 100 kW Powerpack commercial batteries, the system includes a 250 kW inverter and a DC combiner. The footprint is approximately 10 by 16 feet.
The Powerpack system maximizes consumption of on-site solar power, avoids peak electrical charges and facilitates the purchase of energy when it is the cheapest. It acts as an energy storage system for grid power and the photovoltaic system, significantly increasing the utility cost savings that Sprig Electric will realize from using solar electricity alone.
Customers can use the battery's stored electricity to reduce peak demand. The batteries are regulated to charge during a low demand period when a surplus of energy is available. The batteries then discharge stored power when demand is high and the rates are high. This makes for additional savings and lowers the utility bill.
Michael Clifton, engineering/operations manager for Sprig Electric's energy efficiency division, tells GlobeSt.com: "Sprig Electric chose the Tesla Powerpack battery system to combine with a solar photovoltaic system due to its vast battery technology experience and sophisticated cooling system. The Powerpack battery system is compact and expandable, and can fit a company's needs to maximize energy savings."
The installation at Sprig Electric headquarters is regulated by a sophisticated control system, which looks at building loads, the amount of energy the panels are producing, and the amount of power that's stored in the battery. It then shifts power around appropriately based on those conditions. The recently commissioned combo PV/battery storage system installed at Sprig Electric generated 6.7 MWh of energy and saved 4.94 tons of carbon dioxide in the first eight wintery days.
"We are extremely happy at how this combo solar system performed in its first week," says Clifton. "We are excited to begin tracking this unique systems' metrics and ultimately provide alternative energy solutions for our clients and partners alike. We believe the market for battery storage is really going to take off in the coming years."
The Powerpack is based on lithium ion battery technology. The batteries' modular design is adapted from the technology used in those for Tesla's electric cars. The Powerpack is a scalable system which can be expanded by connecting additional Powerpacks, and inverters up to hundreds of MW.
"Tesla is solid in their battery technology," said Clifton. "They use a very sophisticated cooling system that keeps the batteries operating at even temperatures. Their batteries are quite compact, considering the energy within them. We did look at other manufacturers, but those are mostly in the developmental stage."
Sprig Electric is a full-service electrical and data contractor that designs and installs electrical, data/communications, and fire alarm systems. The Sprig Electric energy solution division specializes in the engineering, procurement and construction of solar photovoltaic and battery storage systems.
As previously reported, The Irvine Company is expected to install energy storage systems that will reduce peak-energy consumption from local utilities, ease the need for additional power plants, reduce electricity costs and provide back-up power during grid outages.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
