Together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, EERE helped establish five regional test centers across the United States. The regional test center in Williston, Vermont, recently achieved a major milestone with the installation of a 66-kW solar energy research system, which will focus on analyzing performance data and supporting collaborative research related to the integration of PV technologies into Vermont's electrical grid. Sandia oversees the center, which is located on IBM property.

These centers provide industry leaders and other stakeholders with each site’s grid integration capability, large-scale testing and data monitoring needed to validate photovoltaic (PV) system performance; verify models used to predict performance; collect detailed operations and maintenance data; assess PV module quality, degradation rates, and system reliability; and investigate the role of environmental factors—reliability, durability, and safety of PV technologies.

Positive Impact

The installation of a 66-kW solar energy research system will focus on analyzing performance data and supporting collaborative research related to the integration of PV technologies into Vermont's electrical grid.

Location

Williston, Vermont

Partners

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and IBM

Clean Energy Sector

Renewable Electricity Generation

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) focuses on achieving the goals of the SunShot Initiative, which seeks to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) success stories highlight the positive impact of its work with businesses, industry partners, universities, research labs, and other entities.