Ameresco, the Framingham energy efficiency and renewable energy company, announced on Wednesday it completed on Wednesday the first phase of a multi-stage investigation of how flow battery technology could support microgrids with the U.S. Department of Defense.
The research, funding by the DOD’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, aims to assess, validate and demonstrate the operational effectiveness of vanadium-redox flow battery storage technology and quantify the extent to which it could replace or significantly reduce the need for diesel generators in military microgrids.
While lithium-ion technology serves the majority of energy storage needs, alternative technologies like flow batteries may provide long duration capabilities with reduced degradation over life, the company said.
The second phase of this research is scheduled to begin in late 2020 and will involve Hardware in the Loop testing in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
