Storage On Critical Infrastructure

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sustainable CUNY collaborated with partners to conduct and publish a technical analysis of critical infrastructure in NYC as part of the Smart DG Hub- Resilient Solar Project supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Economic and Resiliency Impact of PV and Storage on New York Critical Infrastructure. Analysis results demonstrate that the inclusion of energy storage in traditional PV projects has real economic and resiliency benefits for the sites studied for this report. The report will be used as a tool to initiate conversations among policymakers tasked with making energy and resiliency investment decisions for the city. The report analyzed the technical and economic viability of solar and storage on three critical infrastructure sites in NYC: a school that is part of a coastal storm shelter system, a fire station that was flooded during Sandy, and a NYCHA senior center that serves as a cooling center during heat emergencies. This analysis differs from previous solar-plus-storage studies by placing a monetary value on resiliency and thus, in essence, modeling a new revenue stream for the avoided cost of a power outage. Analysis results show that resilient PV can be economically viable for NYC's critical infrastructure and that it may be similarly beneficial to other commercial buildings across the city. See more reports