The Challenge

Red Lion Renewables, a solar development and finance company based in Norwalk, Iowa, needed a battery energy storage system for a school in Albia, Iowa. Despite having a 75.97 kW PV array installed at the site, the school still struggled with demand charges, making up the bulk of their electricity bill totals. Red Lion Renewables sought a battery energy storage solution that could integrate with the existing PV array and deliver economic dispatch services to reduce the costly demand charges from the local utility.

The Solution

Red Lion Renewables turned to Energy Toolbase for their battery and energy management system needs. Energy Toolbase procured a BYD Chess 2h 120 / 258 (9540A) battery system and provided intelligent controls with their ETB Controller with Acumen AI™. Acumen AI works to dynamically reduce the site’s demand by utilizing historical data to continuously and accurately predict when demand spikes will occur and discharge the battery exactly when needed to keep the site’s demand below a defined threshold. This energy storage solution enables the site to maximize PV generation and minimize costly demand charges. Real-time performance of PV generation and battery operations is provided by ETB Monitor, enabling insights into the health and function of the system.