PowerBox: A Multi-Port Power Conversion System for Remote Communities

Remote communities including native American tribal communities, native Alaskans living in harsh climates, and communities in underrepresented regions of the country often suffer from the lack of access to a reliable and dependable power grid. This can be due to the lack of infrastructure planning or due to the high frequency of natural disasters and interruptions. Even in some locations with prevalence of distribution lines, reliable access to electricity might be an issue due to the high number of natural disaster incidents. As a result, a portable energy conversion system is of interest to provide reliable electricity through the use of a battery storage system while interfacing a variety of renewable energy resources and gensets. In this project, InnoCit will design and develop a 30kW TRL-5 prototype of a PowerBox which is a multi-port energy conversion system with three flexible dc ports to interface energy sources such as wind, solar, or gensets, a battery interface that supports a variety of battery technologies, and an output single-split-phase 120/240V inverter with frequency-watt support to interface additional ac resources. Furthermore, up to eight PowerBox units can be paralleled to increase the output power and allow for hot swap maintenance. PowerBox will be designed to be portable, lightweight, and offer easy deployment and installation without the need for a skilled technician. Also, sealed enclosures and integrated liquid cooling and heating allows PowerBox to operate in harsh environments of -60 to 150°F. PowerBox will provide remote monitoring and control using IoT through the LTE cell network, Wi-Fi, PMBus, CAN, and a variety of other protocols. Additionally, PowerBox’s adaptive energy management algorithms maximize the utilization of renewable energy resources while ensuring reliable and dependable access to electricity. Compliance with UL1998 and SIL-4 allows remote and underrepresented regions to utilize PowerBox in communities with medical facilities. InnoCit is aiming to commercialize its PowerBox by the end of the Phase II project, if awarded. All portions of PowerBox will be manufactured within the US. This project will provide a platform for remote communities, underrepresented tribal lands, and harsh environment lands of native Alaskans to access a reliable energy conversion system to interface battery storage systems and renewable energy resources in an adaptive and flexible fashion. Ultimately, it will promote the proliferation of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar by mitigating their intermittent nature through the utilization of a battery energy storage system and energy planning algorithms.