R.P. Delio and Company has opened a factory in Hawaii to build containerized, modular microgrids, a design that the company says will drive down costs and allow for quicker installation.
The factory will build two types of microgrids using the company’s proprietary Waypoint Power technology. One will contain inverters, AC power systems, and dynamic demand and supply dispatch grid controls. The second also will include battery energy storage.
The microgrid factory’s initial capacity will be 2 MW per year, enough to supply 500 homes on Hawaii (or 250 homes on the mainland) with microgrids, according to a company news release.
The company expects to roll out the first modular microgrid units in the fourth quarter of 2015, which will fulfill existing orders.
The factory is located in the Hawaii Foreign Trade-Zone (FTZ) No. 9, and will ship units both within Hawaii and to the mainland U.S.
“This is a UL 508A-certified production facility,” said Raymond “RP” Delio, president of R.P. Delio and Company. “We have a backlog of custom Waypoint Power building, energy and carbon management control panels and microgrid orders and are now in the process of ramping up containerized microgrid production for customers here in Hawaii and across the U.S. mainland.”
The company says that its technology can be deployd within hours of arriving on site. A typical configuration can manage 120 kW of PV, wind, micro-hydro and biodiesel, and can call upon 450 kWh of battery energy storage.
The modular design allows customers to take an incremental and scalable approach to microgrid deployment. For example, customers may initially use the modular microgrid for emergency back-up power only. As their needs evolve, they may transition to a more grid independent position, the company said.
“Our customers no longer have to deal with a disjointed series of sustainable component acquisitions and construction projects in order to create microgrid capacity,” Delio said.
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