This solar plus storage demonstration at Nellis Air Force Base will enable the Department of Defense (DoD) to maximize the effectiveness of renewable energy generated and deployed onsite, build cost-effective resilience into new and existing renewable energy projects, reduce electricity costs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Yotta Solar (Yotta), AECOM, 350Solutions, and Energy Toolbase plan to deploy a demonstration of the Yotta’s Photovoltaic (PV) Coupled™ energy storage technology in conjunction with a solar PV installation that provides a compelling return on investment to the DoD. The primary objectives for the project are: 1) deliver economic returns and improved energy resilience to the selected DoD site; 2) maximize existing and planned solar PV using 2:1 architecture without increasing interconnection fees; and 3) demonstrate the versatility, reliability, and longevity of energy storage technology due to the ease of installation with solar and its integrated passive thermal management.

The PV Coupled technology, a smart energy storage solution with advanced thermal management, is designed to effortlessly scale with rooftop and ground-mount solar PV projects. The unique integrated software plus hardware solution also addresses grid outages by enhancing grid resilience and reliability. The above unique features makes the solution well suited for both new or existing solar PV installations. The decentralized format allows for a much lower total cost of installation for solar plus storage than any other current energy storage systems on the market. The project team will quantify economic and technical performance by integrating with industry-leading energy management software and independently monitoring and verifying in accordance with ISO 14034.

This project will demonstrate a cost-effective, modular, scalable, and repeatable approach to integrating energy storage at the building level to support mission readiness, energy security, and energy resilience. The technology will showcase the most integrated approach to adding energy storage to solar, at the highest efficiency, with the least complexity, and enabled via its novel passive thermal management approach. The combination of the solar and energy storage system will also support the U.S. Air Force’s renewable energy target of 25% by 2025 by providing 772,907kWh of solar energy which will be shifted to times one when it is most economically optimal to be consumed. The value of the energy and demand charge reduction to the base will be $62,163 and the project will leverage $300,000 from an NV Energy energy storage rebate for energy storage to support the project.