TEMPE, Ariz. — The demand for power in the Valley of the Sun is increasing. Fortunately, there's a solution right there in the name.
Salt River Project is adding a new battery in which stores solar energy to power homes. The battery array in Coolidge will store energy from the Saint Solar Energy Center there.
SRP said the battery can provide enough energy to power close to 23,000 homes for four hours. That power can be distributed over SRP’s entire network. The company said it expects a 25 percent increase in energy demand by 2030.
The plan is for the battery to be used daily, year-round, to meet those peak demand hours of about 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the summer. That's when most people are home cranking air conditioners in the summer.
In the winter, the energy use is a little different. Use times can be split between two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. That's when heater usage drive up energy demands.
“Peak need for customers using most energy when turning on lights and air conditioning is in afternoon to evening hours, when solar resources and other renewables are not available, Kevin Woolfolk," an SRP Resource Project Manager said. "By using batteries to store solar energy and shift it to the need when customers need it the most and increase reliability on the system.”
This new battery is just one part of SRP’s plan to increase solar resources. There are more in the works to power more than 1.3 million homes to triple their current solar capacity by the end of 2025.
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