.jpg)
.jpg)
Resources
© PowerFlex, All Rights Reserved
Search PowerFlex
Many commercial and industrial businesses are adopting clean technology (cleantech) to make good on their sustainability commitments and energy goals. But implementing green assets like solar, energy storage, and electric vehicle (EV) chargers is almost pointless if they’re not being used to their peak potential.
That’s where an intelligent energy management system (EMS) comes in. It enables commercial and industrial businesses to harness the full power of cleantech by unifying all distributed energy resources into a single platform to monitor, control, and optimize performance across an entire site.
Learn more below about the benefits of deploying an EMS, and how PowerFlex can help.
Policies that incentivize green energy adoption, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, make it easy to justify implementing one or more cleantech solutions. These might include EV charging stations, a solar photovoltaic (PV) system, battery energy storage system (BESS), or a combination of assets. An intelligent EMS has the power to optimize these assets to maximize financial and environmental benefits.
Studies show that EVs are set to lead global car sales in the coming years, making EV charging a near-necessity for many commercial and industrial (C&I) properties. The right EMS should intelligently manage energy site-wide to power EV chargers and monitor utility rates and facility loads to avoid demand spikes.
The PowerFlex X intelligent energy management platform does all this and more, leveraging patented algorithms like Adaptive Load Management® (ALM) to facilitate large-scale EV charging projects while saving customers 60% or more on implementation costs by avoiding electrical service upgrades. (Learn more about ALM here.)
With a solar energy system, a company can generate emissions-free electricity right on its own property, limiting reliance on grid power and reducing its carbon footprint. Solar arrays can be installed on a building’s roof, on the ground, or on carports that provide both green energy for the facility and shelter for vehicles.
Solar systems optimized by an EMS create an opportunity for net metering, where surplus electricity that’s left over after fulfilling onsite energy needs is exported to the grid for monthly utility bill credits. Surplus energy can also be diverted to a battery energy storage system to take advantage of even more benefits.
When energy storage is integrated with an intelligent energy management system, the EMS controls and optimizes charging and discharging of the battery and enables cost-saving strategies that also serve to further reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
One such strategy is called energy arbitrage, where a customer charges their battery when utility rates are low and dispatches the energy to power loads when rates are highest, normally in the late afternoon hours.
Another money-saving tactic is peak shaving. This is when a customer uses battery energy to reduce their maximum consumption from the utility, helping them avoid peak demand fees that are typically based on the highest usage within a billing cycle.
Co-optimizing multiple energy technologies across an entire site lets a business employ a holistic approach to energy management and take full advantage of clean technologies — more so than optimizing each asset on its own.
For example, an EMS can direct solar energy to EV chargers or an energy storage system during the daytime and let the batteries kick in to reduce electrical grid draw during expensive peak-use times in the evening.
A site’s energy-use profile will inevitably change over time, and with a scalable EMS, it’s possible to start small and add more assets in the future. As Reid Gustin, Director of Software Sales at PowerFlex, remarked during a recent webinar about mapping C&I cleantech projects, “Our goal is to deliver a system that meets your needs today while future-proofing your property for your energy needs of tomorrow.”
Once a cleantech system is integrated with an EMS, its operation is mainly hands off. Equipment maintenance needs are minimal, and EMS software automatically optimizes power, adjusts to different loads, and learns from real-time site conditions.
However, reporting is still essential for measuring progress toward sustainability and financial goals. With PowerFlex X, customers leverage flexible reporting options that shed light on:
Running real-time and historical reports can help a C&I business prove to internal and external stakeholders that its cleantech investments are having positive impacts on both the company’s carbon footprint and its bottom line.
Whether you’re looking to install a cleantech system from scratch or wanting to optimize existing assets, PowerFlex has the solutions, products, and experience to help you achieve your energy goals. Contact us today to begin your cleantech journey.
