MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada Inc. announced that it has received a Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) Game Changer Award, the Energy Management Award, as part of the annual Game Changer Awards Gala. CanSIA hosts the gala and provides awards to recognize those who have provided service excellence, outstanding leadership, or innovation in the advancement of the Canadian solar sector over the last year.

“Canada competes globally due in large part to individuals and companies in the solar industry who show leadership, and take innovation, technology, and research to a new level,” said John Gorman, CanSIA president and CEO. “We feel it’s important to recognize special achievement.”

“We are honored to receive the Energy Management Award at this year’s gala,” said Walter Buzzelli, managing director at Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada. “Panasonic was able to demonstrate its innovative energy management technology over the past year by integrating our battery storage and solar PV in a microgrid environment. This award serves as recognition to the type of game changing system that we can provide to customers in an emerging segment of the market.”

Last year, Panasonic Eco Solutions demonstrated its energy management technology as it participated in the Energy Open Access to Sustainable Intermittent Sources (OASIS) project as part of a smart microgrid program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). The BCIT microgrid project features a sophisticated and integrated system that includes 250kW of solar PV modules for renewable energy generation, a 500kWh lithium-ion battery for energy storage, and additional efficient energy management components to achieve Canada’s first smart power microgrid. The system was commissioned in March 2014.

At the heart of the BCIT microgrid system is the Panasonic Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), which consists of lithium-ion batteries and a bidirectional inverter. The Panasonic BESS communicates with a distributed energy management system (DEMS). The DEMS learns when to buy, sell, or store energy using intelligent algorithms and sends the requests to store or discharge the BESS at key times, such as peak usage or in low utility rate hours.

For more information, visit www.panasonic.ca/solar.

Publication date: 5/4/2015

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!