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Smart work by Kyocera in Los Alamos

Japan's Kyocera Corporation has opened the first international smart grid demonstration project on U.S. soil at Los Alamos in New Mexico.

For the smart grid demo, Kyocera installed a 910 kW multicrystalline silicon solar array on a reclaimed landfill site.

Kyocera

The Japanese New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) is involved in two sites, demonstrating smart grid and smart house use.

For the smart grid demo, Kyocera installed a 910 kW multicrystalline silicon solar array on a reclaimed landfill site using base mountings optimized for dynamic soil conditions. Associated smart grid technology will monitor efficiency levels and how to reduce fluctuations in grid supply.

Kyocera's smart house features a 3.4 kW solar generator, a 24 kWh lithium-ion storage battery and an energy efficient heat storage unit. The house will demonstrate the use of smart appliances that respond to smart grid signals through the use of a home energy management system.

The project is a collaboration with the New Mexico state government, Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (a national research center under the aegis of the US Energy Department) and also features a third site in Albuquerque.

Data collection and analysis will continue until March 2014 when the project will be made available for other companies to use its resources for testing products and conducting research.