Project Background
Northern Arizona University faces high peak electricity demand and significant demand-based surcharges from the utility. Existing solar and battery resources are not fully viable with campus operations, leaving both financial and sustainability benefits on the table. With increasing enrollment and campus growth,this delima will only get worse over time.
This project focuses on designing a cost-effective and reliable way to reduce peak demand on campus by combining renewable resources and advanced control strategies. Our goals include:
- Analyzing NAU’s historical demand profiles to identify when peaks occur.
- Creating renewable and storage technologies that can lower the high surges during those peaks.
- Developing a way to have a smart grid and IoT-based monitoring platform.
The ultimate aim is to lower NAU’s energy costs while also allowing the goals of sustainability and affordability to be met. We want to help NAU lead by example in demonstrating how universities can effectively manage their energy use in a sustainable manner.
Renewable-Oriented Vision
Our design prioritizes clean, renewable resources first and uses storage and smart controls to shape when and how energy is used. Instead of simply adding more generation, we focus on using energy smarter:
- Shifting heating and cooling loads to times when renewable energy is most available.
- Charging storage when demand and prices are low, discharging during campus peaks.
- Ensuring that every kilowatt-hour of solar generation contributes to measurable peak reduction.
Our focus is to try to create a sustainable yet cost-effective strategy that can store and release power depending on generation needs. While we face the competition of batteries and thier size to efficency ratio; a Thermal Energy System should not cause any repercussions to the impact of the environment.
Meet Our Sponsors
Erin McAnally-Trejo: Erin is the Energy Manager at Northern Arizona University. She oversees campus energy use and is part of the Facility Services here at NAU. Erin is passionate about sustainability and finding innovative ways to reduce the university's carbon footprint.
Jordan Sundin: Jordan is a Senior Electrical Engineer at NAU's Facility Services. He specializes in power systems and renewable energy integration. Jordan brings a wealth of experience in designing and implementing energy solutions that align with NAU's sustainability goals and making sure our carbon footprint is reduced.
