Development of the SEED-Storage Optional System

The United States ranks toward the bottom among developed nations in terms of the reliability of its electricity service. Catastrophic events, such as the one happened recently in Texas, reveal the most visible evidence of the lack of reliability and security of a vulnerable electric infrastructure that is clearly not fully prepared to face sever climatic events and absorb steep related spikes in demand for power. Frequent small outages are endemic throughout the country. the annual costs of U.S. power outages are at least $22 billion and may be as high as $135 billion. Most of the losses (72%) are borne by commercial customers, whereas industrial customers shoulder 26% of the loss and residential users only 2%. The large adoption of EV is increasing the demand for efficient chargers exacerbating the need for reliable sources of energy for resident and business. Solar generators could be the solution, however, most solar generators available to consumers are unable to meet the needs of the end-users, and many products are poorly designed turn-key kits composed of a large inverter, an undersized battery bank, and/ or too few PV modules, eventually leading to systems being discarded or replaced. Batteries, which are often the weakest link, can account for up to 70% of a typical Residential Solar Plus Storage system cost, which makes replacing them a considerable expense. This leaves the consumer without adequate power and forces them to spend more money to make the system usable, solidifying the notion that solar does not work - a common misconception due in many cases to improper installation, lack of maintenance, or poor design and system sizing. This project will focus on the scientific and technical analysis to validate the technological concept of our game-changing solution, the Solar SEED-Storage Optional System (SEED-SOS), a flexible, cost-effective, module-level solution for grid-interactive systems with back-up power, traditionally known as bi-modal energy systems. During the project we will address design and engineering challenges to progress to production scale. The SEED-Storage Optional System (SEED-SOS), is unlike any back-up power system available today because it can utilize the electricity generated by a photovoltaic array as a grid-interactive or off-grid system without relying on energy storage, dramatically decreasing operation and maintenance, reducing bi-modal system complexity, and lowering start-up costs by 40-60%, making electricity more affordable, reliable, and secure. Economic benefit. Based on the annual cost of power outage in the US only the successful deployment of our solution would enable commercial sector to cut the annual cost by $15b to $97b. Social. Power outage and grid unreliability can severely affect the social life and health of vulnerable people. We will mitigate the great risk of power outage health impacts for older adults, people who rely on a caregiver to perform daily activities, and those who depend on electric medical devices. These populations often have more health problems, medication needs, and/or limited mobility.