1. The Nissan Leaf, floating solar, flywheels, and flow batteries are being tested by Orlando Utilities Commission at their Gardenia Innovation Centre.
2. The Gardenia Centre serves as a living lab for testing pre-commercialized or newly commercialized technology for grid management.
3. The integration lab focuses on grid innovation, specifically on PV smoothing to optimize consumption of solar energy, especially in areas like Orlando with high levels of cloud cover.
The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) is testing innovative technologies such as the Nissan Leaf, floating solar, flywheels, and flow batteries at their Gardenia Innovation Centre for potential deployment in power grid management. The center serves as a testing ground for pre-commercialized or newly commercialized technologies that are then deployed in the OUC’s grid after testing.
The integration lab at the Gardenia Centre coordinates solar smoothing and reacts to demand events by combining solar, storage, and controllable loads like electric vehicle charging. OUC has been collaborating with the University of Central Florida to develop custom control algorithms for managing these technologies together. The center is described as a living lab where technologies are tested, replaced, and updated constantly.
The integration lab at the Gardenia Center focuses on tasks like PV smoothing by monitoring weather data and cloud coverage to optimize energy consumption, especially in areas like Orlando with frequent cloud cover. Testing and developing technologies like PV smoothing are crucial as renewable energy sources become more prevalent in the power system. The Gardenia Centre’s portfolio of innovative technologies and testing procedures will be essential in ensuring a reliable and efficient power grid in the future.