The Energy Academic Group is midway through construction of a microgrid power systems lab that will enable students and faculty to conduct hands-on research in the fields of renewable energy generation, energy storage, and power distribution and management. This microgrid was originally planned as a demonstration for microgrids composed of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, but it was later realized that the microgrid would have more value as a lab for student and faculty experimentation. The lab is built into a 20-foot shipping container and features solar and wind generation, battery storage equivalent to a typical household’s daily energy use, and dual fuel backup generation. Because most of the components are COTS devices intended for residential and industrial applications, they tend to have more robust data collection capabilities built in. In the future, it is also planned to incorporate more military specific hardware so that the microgrid will more closely resemble systems students might later encounter in the field. 

 

Upon completion in Q2 FY20, the microgrid will be available for NPS students and faculty to use in support of their educational labs, sponsored research, and thesis projects. The microgrid has been designed to support a wide variety of energy generation and storage mechanisms, so students and faculty pursuing topics such as alternative generation or storage methods are highly encouraged to incorporate their systems into the microgrid. Anyone interested in using the lab is encouraged to reach out to Mr. Brandon Naylor of the Energy Academic Group at blnaylor@nps.edu.