Public Content Library

Summary

A new 85 kW PV solar plant will begin operating this fall in the Houston Advanced Research Center headquarters. Located in The Woodlands (Texas), the influence of severe weather events such as floods and hurricanes in the building’s energy demand and its operations will be discussed for this 18,500 sqft office building established in early 2017. Its transition from a certified LEED Platinum building to a resilient microgrid, including a potential Net Zero certification by the end of 2019 will be presented. The company’s rationale, resilience strategies adopted including microgrid layouts, alternatives, and business models will be discussed. Potential costs derived from the lack of power resilience and the way they have been included in the profitability assessment will be shared in detail, showing potential ways to overcome this barrier for the deployment of microgrids with resilient purposes in the market.

Session Track 2A

Speakers

Carlos Gamarra, Houston Advanced Research Center