Trying to persuade Craig Marshall and Dugald Wells that DERs are the way of the future is like preaching to the converted. For Marshall, who is President of Marshall Homes, and Wells, the General Manager of Marshall Homes’ new Altona Towns project, talking about the potential of DERs is old news. All that’s really left to do is to start building, so consumers can see for themselves how much they will actually benefit from being part of a DER-enabled community.
“We’re a non-traditional builder and we’ve always tried to lead the way when it comes to developing homes with low environmental impacts, including net-zero homes,” says Marshall. “We aren’t afraid to innovate, especially if it results in lower electricity costs and fewer greenhouse gas emissions coming from the homes we build.”
When the new Altona Towns project, located in Pickering, Ontario, is ready for occupancy in 2020, homeowners will move into a community of 27 townhomes that are managed by a standard condominium corporation. A solar array will stand on the roof of one of the townhouse blocks, connecting it to a Tesla Powerpack located at the perimeter of the project. The Powerpack (a battery capable of storing 250 kW/500 kWh of energy) will store the power produced by the solar array until it is needed – for example, during a power outage. Half of the battery’s storage capacity will be reserved for the community, while the remainder will be reserved for providing regulation services. (Regulation services include frequency control and operating reserves that are used to maintain grid stability and security.)
“We have an agreement with our local distribution company, Elexicon, that any power the array produces that is used to displace power from the traditional grid will have a specific value. That amount will be returned to the condo corporation, and distributed to unit owners as a reduction in their condo fees to help offset their hydro costs,” says Wells.
What the Altona Towns project amounts to is essentially a community microgrid, with the flow of energy back and forth between homeowners and Elexicon being managed by Canadian software developer Opus One. Taking the energy storage/energy generator scenario one step further, Marshall also plans to install a Tesla Powerwall in one of the townhomes that can be charged during off-peak hours (when electricity is cheaper), for use during the day when rates are higher.
A pay-for-use, fast-speed electric vehicle charging station in the complex will further add to the condo corporation’s overall revenues. “It’s an exciting demonstration project because it will provide real-world data that the hydro company and the IESO can use to figure out if distributed energy can improve reliability and resilience while, at the same time, bringing down the cost of electricity. I hope it helps people use energy more wisely,” says Marshall.