A few months back, our newsletter spotlighted an up and coming exciting installation at Pallets N More. This installation is now finished, creating a unique microgrid for this customer. Solar + Emergency Backup Power ensures that life and business will not be interrupted. Here’s how Tick Tock Energy accomplished that goal for Pallets N More.
System Testing and Customer Education
This is the critical step once the physical and electrical installation is complete, where Mark, our battery team lead, meets with the customer onsite. During this meeting, this customer gains a better understanding of the system performance and settings, any required maintenance, warranties, and management strategies for “what if” scenarios. These “what if” scenarios can be endless, and it is through this meeting that the customer gains confidence in their system knowing we are just a phone call away to assist and optimize their system.
Common Outages Prior to Solar + Batteries
A major motivator for the customer was to overcome the frequent outages from utility provider Shelby Electric. Tick Tock designed a solution to ensure critical business operations continue during frequent power disruptions. In summary:
- One to two outages per week were common, or several per month
- These lasted 15 to 20 minutes, up to 2-4 hours
- An existing 26 kW standby generator was used to continue production at a scaled back level to conserve generator fuel
Operating Strategy
Microgrid systems such as this are 100% customizable – no two are exactly alike. Here’s the nitty gritty of how Tick Tock Energy established energy security for Pallets N More:
- Two stacks of Homegrid batteries (12 total, equaling 57.6 total kWh)
- Batteries set to cycle daily, with any additional excess solar generation sent to the utility grid
- Batteries discharge daily to power loads in the evening (currently set to 50% depth of discharge)
- While these batteries can discharge down to 20%, it is wise to keep the discharge minimum set to 50% as this facility experiences frequent outages; this allows for continued reserve battery power should the following work day begin with a grid power outage
- Power heirarchy = solar + battery, then grid, and then only when batteries are fully discharged will the standby generator power loads during a grid power outage
Customer Learning Curve
The custom settings are monitored and adjusted by Tick Tock Energy over the first 12 months to obtain optimal performance levels in regards to kWh savings and $ savings on utility bills. It is typically during this time period that the system owner (customer) becomes familiar and comfortable with the system settings and monitoring through working with our service and battery commissioning team. The customer gains confidence as they witness their system perform as it should during grid outages, while celebrating lower energy bills. At the time of the release of this newsletter, the customer is already experiencing these benefits. Should any needs arise, the customer has the assurance that our battery team at Tick Tock Energy is just a call away!
Key Takeaway
Tick Tock Energy and now Pallets N More are ahead of the curve in creating and implementing microgrids for energy security. With the growing volatility of theIllinois electrig grid and ever changing utility rate structures, microgrids are the future of energy savings and energy security. Pallets N More no longer has to worry about either, all while experiencing reduced generator fuel costs.
Interested in exploring solar and battery storage for your business? Contact Tick Tock Energy to learn how a customized microgrid can help reduce costs, improve reliability, and keep operations running when the grid goes down.
