West Marin Medical Center now equipped with solar + battery backup

The West Marin Medical Center (WMMC) in Point Reyes is now equipped with a 40-kWh battery through MCE’s Energy Storage Program, which provided end-to-end project development from THG, in concert with Enerlogics West. The storage system is paired with the medical center’s rooftop solar to provide emergency backup power and daily load shifting to reduce energy costs.

“West Marin Medical Center is very grateful to MCE for their partnership in installing battery storage at our facility,” said Dr. Colin Hamblin, owner and physician at West Marin Medical Center. “MCE made it possible for us to install battery storage which was otherwise challenging to find for our community clinic. This new project will not only save us money, but will provide us with clean back-up energy for critical needs like vaccine refrigeration during outages.”

MCE provided more than $10,000 to help cover the cost of the project, and another $11,000 was awarded through the CPUC’s Self Generation Incentive Program.

WMMC estimates savings of more than $30,400 over seven years through smart charging and discharging of the battery. Each day, while the sun is shining, the battery will charge up from solar produced onsite. When the solar production goes down and electricity prices are at their peak from 4-9 p.m., the building will pull solar energy from the battery to support its power needs. The daily load shifting also benefits MCE by reducing its need to procure power when it’s most expensive. To incentivize this daily load shifting, MCE will also provide a $20/month bill credit and $0.22/kWh for energy discharged to the grid between 4-9 p.m.

“MCE’s Energy Storage Program offers critical medical facilities like West Marin Medical Center the ability to serve the community during and despite power outages,” said Katie Rice, County of Marin Supervisor and MCE Board Director. “It can be difficult for small-scale projects like this to pencil out and the resources that MCE provides make it possible to power important community facilities with clean energy when it’s most needed.”

THG, a competitively awarded Trade Ally for MCE’s Energy Storage Program, is providing the software integration and overall program management for the project. THG’s partner, Enerlogics West, is providing the engineering, procurement and construction for the project, including optimization of the existing solar into the new energy storage system.

News item from MCE

<!–
–>
Original Source: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/07/west-marin-medical-center-now-equipped-with-solar-battery-backup/