RGS Energy's Sunetric Designs and Deploys Its First Solar-to-Grid Curtailment Solution on the Island of Kauai
June 17 2014 - 8:31AM
Sunetric, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RGS Energy (Nasdaq:RGSE),
has deployed a 198.8 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic (PV) system with
automated curtailment and smart-grid controls at a popular
beachfront resort on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The system is
funded and owned by Kairos Energy Capital, a Hawaii-based merchant
bank which finances and invests in solar.
The system assures all electricity generated by the PV system is
consumed by the local facility and not fed back into the utility
grid. This reduces the impact on the local circuit and makes it
easier for the island's electric utility provider, Kauai Island
Utility Cooperative (KIUC), to manage the grid.
The solution addresses the concerns of KIUC and other utilities
regarding "grid saturation," where electricity generated by a solar
PV system exceeds the maximum amount allowed on a particular
circuit. Since Sunetric's PV system intelligently avoids flowing
electricity back onto the grid, it resolves this issue while
providing customers the economic and environmental benefits of
solar energy.
This Kauai project incorporates solar panels onto a parking
canopy and is expected to save the resort more than $30,000
annually in energy costs. KIUC has been closely monitoring the PV
system through interval data and confirms the solar array has not
exported power to the grid. The Sunetric engineering team spent
four months developing, testing and implementing this custom
solution, which now serves as an excellent model for PV
installations where interconnection capacity is a concern.
"We partnered with Sunetric to deploy this unique solution
because they are one of the largest and most well established local
solar developers and installers in Hawaii," said Larry Gilbert,
managing partner and CEO at Kairos Energy Capital. "The Sunetric
team brought great engineering know-how and top-notch service to
the project, which has become one of our most innovative solar
technologies to date. Sunetric now supports our ongoing efforts to
help businesses 'go green' by adopting solar."
Sunetric's president, Aaron Kirk, commented: "We are committed
to meeting our customers' special requirements, and we thrive on
tackling challenges like this one that involve designing and
installing an unconventional curtailment system. It represents our
first solar-to-grid curtailment solution that overcomes utility
grid saturation concerns common in the Hawaiian Islands. This
popular Kauai resort has now created a more sustainable future for
themselves and their guests, and we expect other Hawaii resort
properties to follow."
About Kairos Energy Capital Kairos Energy
Capital is a Hawaii-based merchant bank which finances and invests
in solar, wind and other renewable energy projects in Hawaii.
Kairos and its principals were the first Hawaii-based company to
successfully implement commercial power purchase agreement
financing for solar PV in Hawaii, and continue to be one of the
leading providers of PPA financing for commercial, non-profit and
condominium solar projects. For more information, visit
www.kairosenergycapital.com.
About Sunetric Sunetric is one of the largest
and most experienced solar developers and integrators in Hawaii. As
a full-service solar energy firm, the company handles every stage
of the design, development and installation of photovoltaic systems
on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai and the Big Island. Sunetric
is a wholly owned subsidiary of RGS Energy. For more information,
visit http://sunetric.com/.
About RGS Energy RGS Energy (Nasdaq:RGSE) is
one of the nation's pioneering solar energy companies serving
commercial, residential, and utility customers. Beginning with one
of the very first photovoltaic panels sold to the public in the
U.S. in 1978, the company has installed more than 22,500 solar
power systems representing over 235 megawatts of 100% clean
renewable energy. RGS Energy makes it very convenient for customers
to save on their energy bills by providing a comprehensive solar
solution, from design, financing, permitting and installation to
ongoing monitoring, maintenance and support.
As one of the nation's largest and most experienced solar power
players, the company has 20 offices across the U.S. For more
information, visit RGSEnergy.com, on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/rgsenergy and on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/rgsenergy. RGS Energy is a trade name and RGS
Energy makes filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
under its official name "Real Goods Solar, Inc."
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CONTACT: Media and Investor Relations Contact for RGS Energy:
Ron Both
Liolios Group, Inc.
Tel 1-949-574-3860
RGSE@liolios.com
Sunetric Media Contact
Hannah Lee
Marketing Manager
Tel 1-808-262-6600
hlee@sunetric.com