Lamar Buffalo Ranch renewable, zero emission
energy system is now online
System features 208 re-used Camry Hybrid
batteries
For a video explanation about the Lamar Buffalo
Ranch project, visit https://youtu.be/meVQGp8h5aI.
The lights are on where the buffalo roam.
At Yellowstone National Park, solar
panels generate renewable electricity stored within 208 used Toyota
Camry Hybrid battery packs. (Photo: Business Wire)
At the Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus in Yellowstone National
Park, an innovative distributed energy system that combines solar
power generation with re-used Camry Hybrid battery packs is now
online. The result: reliable, sustainable, zero emission power to
the ranger station and education center for the first time since it
was founded in 1907.
Announced in June 2014, the partnership among Toyota, Indy Power
Systems, Sharp USA SolarWorld, Patriot Solar, National Park Service
and Yellowstone Park Foundation is an innovative effort to extend
the useful life of hybrid vehicle batteries while providing
sustainable power generation for one of the most remote, pristine
areas in the United States.
Solar panels generate the renewable electricity stored within
the 208 used Camry Hybrid nickel-metal hydride battery packs,
recovered from Toyota dealers across the United States.
“Through our long-standing partnership with Yellowstone National
Park and the Yellowstone Park Foundation, Toyota has helped
preserve Yellowstone for future generations,” said Jim Lentz, chief
executive officer, Toyota North America. “Today, our relationship
with Yellowstone continues, as more than 200 battery packs that
once powered Toyota Camry hybrids have found a new home on the
range.”
On an annual basis, the solar system generates enough
electricity to power six average U.S. households for a year, or
plenty of power for the five buildings on the Ranch campus. The
hybrid batteries provide 85kWh of energy storage to ensure
continuous power, as the system charges and discharges. Onsite
micro-hydro turbine systems, capturing energy from a neighboring
stream, are scheduled to join the power mix in 2016.
The Yellowstone system is the first of its kind to use recovered
hybrid vehicle batteries for commercial energy storage. Each
battery pack has been disassembled and tested, and every piece that
could be was repurposed. New components were also designed and
built by Indy Power Systems specifically for this application,
including an onboard battery management system for each battery
pack. The battery management system is designed to maximize battery
life and will also provide important insights into real-world
performance. These insights will help Toyota design future battery
performance and durability improvements.
“Toyota’s innovative response to solve a difficult problem has
helped Yellowstone move closer to its goal of becoming the greenest
park in the world,” said Steve Iobst, acting superintendent of
Yellowstone.
Hybrid batteries typically reach the end of their usable life in
automobile-grade applications with significant remaining power
storage capacity. While Toyota has a robust hybrid battery
recycling program in place, the Yellowstone project reflects
ongoing efforts to extend the life of existing hybrid batteries.
Engineers expect this type of use to double the overall lifespan of
the hybrid batteries.
The Lamar Buffalo Ranch project is just part of Toyota’s
extensive work with Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone
Park Foundation, including providing hybrid vehicles to support
park operations, and green building expertise and financial backing
for the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, which opened in
2010.
“As exemplified by the Lamar Buffalo Ranch project, Toyota’s
mission-driven philanthropic focus and expertise in sustainability
will make a difference in Yellowstone for generations to come,”
said Karen Bates Kress, president of the Yellowstone Park
Foundation.
To learn more about Yellowstone National Park sustainability
initiatives please visit
http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/sustainability-contents.htm.
Details on the Yellowstone National Park Sustainability
Project Energy Storage and Management System
- Power Generation: 40kW solar
system producing ~67,900 kwH annually.(40kW propane backup
generator onsite for emergency use only)
- Storage Array: 208 repackaged
battery packs, each internally re-wired in parallel and arranged in
series in four arrays of 52. Each array provides a nominal 375
volts. Total storage capacity of 85kwH.
- Power Management: Indy Power
Systems’ Energy Router™ manages and optimizes generation and use of
energy between solar energy, battery storage, and/or propane
generators (if emergency generator is needed).
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's top automaker and creator of the
Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building
vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus
and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we’ve built more
than 25 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate
14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more
than 42,000 people (more than 33,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North
American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.67
million cars and trucks (more than 2.35 million in the U.S.) in
2014 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the
past 20 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the
country, with a focus on education, safety and the environment. As
part of this commitment, we share the company’s extensive know-how
garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community
organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good.
For more information about Toyota, visit
www.toyotanewsroom.com.
About the Yellowstone Park Foundation:
The Yellowstone Park Foundation (YPF) has more than 20,000
individuals, corporations and foundations that donate to YPF each
year, and has served as Yellowstone National Park’s official
fundraising partner since 1996. Its mission is to fund projects and
programs that protect, preserve, and enhance the natural and
cultural resources, and the visitor experience of the Park. YPF has
raised more than $85 million, and funded more than 300 important
projects and initiatives since its inception that include wildlife
research, cutthroat trout restoration, trail maintenance, and youth
education. For more information, please go to www.ypf.org.
About Yellowstone National Park:
Yellowstone National Park is home to the majority of the world’s
geysers, the main reason it was established as the world’s first
national park in 1872. This wild, mountainous, 2.2 million acre
expanse is home to grizzly bears, wolves, bison, elk, numerous
rivers, lakes and waterfalls, and the magnificent Grand Canyon of
the Yellowstone.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150512005740/en/
ToyotaJana Hartline, 310-779-0415jana_hartline@toyota.comorMedia
Web site: http://www.toyotanewsroom.comPublic Web site:
http://www.toyota.com
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