by Shane Henson — June 4, 2012—Cogenra Solar, a provider of distributed solar cogeneration solutions, has partnered with Southern California Gas Company to pilot a solar cogeneration project at its Energy Resource Center (ERC), an award-winning model of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly technologies opened in the spring of 1995 in Downey, California.
SoCalGas’ Energy Resource Center includes office space, meeting rooms for workshops and seminars, and an exhibit hall—in all, capable of accommodating more than 700 people. In collaboration with Solarrus Corporation, Cogenra Solar installed a 20 SunDeck module system on the roof of the building. The 50.2kW installation will produce electricity to power the building and heat to drive a single-effect absorption chiller.
This is an innovative solution to managing energy. Until now, solar cogeneration applications included solar hot water, space heating and electricity, says Cogenra Solar. The SoCalGas’ solar cooling application effectively demonstrates solar cogeneration’s versatility in addressing customers’ diverse energy needs, and opens up the vast cooling market to Cogenra’s solar cooling solution.
Cogenra explains that its solar cogeneration system converts the sun’s energy to produce electricity, like any other photovoltaic (PV) technology, and then captures most of the remaining energy in water, in total using more than 75% of the energy incident from the sun—versus 15% for traditional PV. The cogeneration system’s heat storage and on-demand availability of cooling offsets not only electrical energy costs but also helps reduce electric peak demand charges. Peak demand charges for typical commercial and industrial buildings account for more than 30% of their electricity bills, says Cogenra Solar.
Solar cogeneration is a solution that is not limited to utility use and provides heat, cooling and electricity for a range of cleaning and process applications, notes the company. Leading companies in the multifamily, government, hospitality, healthcare, wine, and food industries are also taking advantage of this hybrid solution, reducing energy costs and boosting their sustainability performance.
