Companies
County Installs First Intelligent Energy Storage System
By Sara Isenberg
Founder, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, Santa Cruz Tech Beat
October 1, 2015 — Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz County announces partnership with Green Charge Networks, a company working with cities and counties throughout California to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable energy
Green Charge Networks, the largest provider of commercial energy storage in the U.S., has partnered with the County of Santa Cruz to install a state-of-the-art energy storage system at the County’s largest administrative building. This is the first energy storage installation in the County and largest installation at a County facility in Northern California. Energy storage highlights advancements in conservation efforts, reduced environmental impact, and the promotion of clean energy.
Officials from Santa Cruz County and Silicon Valley-based Green Charge Networks took part in an unveiling ceremony earlier this week that featured a live demonstration of real time energy usage, operational impact, utility bill savings, and a tour of the installed system.
“Santa Cruz County is a leader in sustainability including coastal restoration, clean air initiatives and transportation measures. The installation of the County’s first energy storage system is a practical and exciting step to further reduce our impact on the environment,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Caput said.
“Working with an experienced organization like Green Charge made the installation of energy storage a smooth and seamless process. The newest addition to our environmental efforts will help our community move to a new way of saving money, more importantly will have a big impact on helping the environment,” Supervisor John Leopold said.
Cities and counties throughout California including the City of Redwood City, the City of Santa Clara, Santa Barbara County, and the City of Lancaster are working with Green Charge to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable energy with energy storage.
The Green Charge energy storage equipment and installation came at no cost the County including installation, maintenance and a 10 year warranty. The Green Charge intelligent energy storage solution is a scalable, modular system with a smart controller and sophisticated software that monitors facility loads on a second-by-second basis. The cloud-based software counteracts the peaks and valleys by discharging and charging from the lithium ion storage system. The system stores energy during off-peak hours and allows the County to use that energy during peak hours. It reduces energy costs and puts more taxpayer dollars back into the county.
The Green Charge intelligent energy storage system is installed at the Santa Cruz County Government Center. The energy storage system is interconnected with PG&E and also provides the added benefit of reducing stress on the electrical grid, therefore increasing the reliability of our power supply. The building houses many agencies including: the main administration, District Attorney, Planning Department, the Law Library, the main court system offices, Assessor’s office, Collections and the County Clerk.
###
