A North Carolina State University (NCSU) affiliate has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with North Carolina-based solar energy solutions company Koolbridge Solar.
NCSU’s North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) has signed the five-year MoA to support the development of advanced smart solar and smart energy management technology of Koolbridge.
Koolbridge has developed a circuit breaker panel named Smart Load Center, which smartly integrates the photovoltaic power installation with the electrical grid. It is able to switch to off-grid supply based on the load exerted by the user.
The system switches load to off-grid solar power systems when there is consistent sunshine above a threshold cut-off limit, a statement says.
NCCETC will support Koolbridge with policy, market, and technical guidance concerning their products and strategies under the terms of the MoA.
NCCETC will also help Koolbridge obtain federal and state grants besides availing other possible funding opportunities.
NCCETC harbours expertise in solar policy, markets, and technology in addition to codes and standards in the industry. It has conducted demonstrations and carried out field tests of different solar technologies.
It has also won competitive grant funding from two large US Department of Energy SunShot programs in recent times.
According to Stephen Burnett, the chairman and CEO of Koolbridge, the company has developed an advanced inverter and other patented and patent-pending energy management technologies that will help lower costs of distributed photovoltaic systems.
Burnett claims the technologies allow effortless integration of energy storage with the grid and ensure continued operation on account of power outage.
Ajith Kumar S