Overview
The Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative (SIGI) was developed specifically to research and implement systems that demonstrate the successful integration of intermittent renewable energy, energy storage, and all types of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. UCR has well established microgrid testbeds and laboratories for pre-commercial testing of new technologies in a "living lab" environment. Over the last six years researchers have designed and implemented numerus microgrid systems including 2.2 MWh of battery energy storage, over 11 MW solar PV, 8 MW of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) for chiller operations, and multiple electric vehicle chargers including supervisory control and data acquisition systems.
These unique microgrid/smartgrid testbeds with plug and play capabilities possess the ability to validate various Hardware in Loop (HiL) scenarios. In addition to energy system modeling, UCR can utilize its microgrid testbed for evaluating specific microgrid designs that will be placed elsewhere. These testbests are suited for researching and testing of different strategies and technologies in the real world, from building to neighborhood scale applications.
To learn more, visit our Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative Research page.
Services Available
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Solar Panels
We perform extensive solar testing including soiling, efficiency, curtailment, performance, microgrid integration, and islanding.
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Inverters
We perform efficiency testing (5kW to MW+), curtailment, islanding, voltage support, reactive power control, and grid ancillary services.
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Battery Energy Storage
We perform microgrid integration, control optimization, Battery Management System (BMS), performance, and islanding services.
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Microgrid Control and Integration
We perform system architecture, net zero configuration, distributed generation, controls, and load management services.
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Load Management
We perform SCADA, islanding, microgrid integration, control optimization, and energy profiling services.
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Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
We perform system optimization, system configuration, energy measurement, and load management performance monitoring services.
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Vehicle to Grid
As of 2019, SIGI now offers testing of vehicle-to-grid algorithms using the latest V2G inverter systems.
