Kyocera Corp. (News - Alert), a leading supplier of solar power generating systems, announced that it has been selected to partake in a Smart-Grid Demonstration Project, which is being undertaken by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan. The project will be held in New Mexico and is a joint effort between NEDO, the New Mexico State Government, Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities, and a National Research Center which is driven by U.S. Department of Energy. The project targets for the wider implementation of renewable energy and to promote energy conservation through the demonstration of smart-grid related technologies.

In a release, Kyocera Corporation President Tetsuo Kuba said that, “With the growing expectation for smart-grid technology seen in recent years, Kyocera is extremely happy to have been commissioned for part of NEDO's important Japan-U.S. Smart-Grid Demonstration Project. Using our solar energy technology as a foundation, we will aim to utilize our participation in this project to supply smart-grid related products and develop energy management technologies to create new business opportunities.”

The project will be held at three locations in Los Alamos and Albuquerque and Kyocera will be taking part in two: the Smart-Grid Demonstration and the Smart House Demonstration in Los Alamos, where Kyocera will lead the Evaluation of Distributed Energy Resource (Photovoltaics, etc.) within the Collective Research part of the entire project. The Smart-Grid Demonstration will build a power supply microgrid which uses power distribution lines from a large-scale power plant to demonstrate the related technologies and performance, and to reduce the effects of power output fluctuations. A 910kW multicrystalline silicon solar module system will be supplied by Kyocera. It will also select and install base mounting optimized for dynamic soil conditions and build a data collection system to develop a method for system fault analysis at isolated facilities.

Kyocera will lead the construction of a hybrid energy management system which uses a 3.3kW residential solar power generating system, 20kW storage battery and heat storage unit for the Smart House Demonstration in Los Alamos. The Smart House helps to optimize energy usage by operating a Home Energy Management System (HEMS) equipped with communication equipment and sensors.

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