New SMUD Solar Array to Support Advanced Vehicles (solar H2, California)

[jpak]

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAPR904.htm

Striving for cleaner air is just one of the promises the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) makes to its customers. That’s why SMUD is supporting advanced transportation with clean solar electricity.

A new solar array on the SMUD campus will soon provide enough electricity to generate hydrogen for SMUD’s small fleet of fuel-cell electric vehicles and provide clean electricity to the grid during peak power demands. Not only does the technology help clean the air in Sacramento, it also helps reduce carbon emissions associated with both power generation and vehicle petroleum usage, reducing climate change impacts.

The photovoltaic array, just west of the SMUD Headquarters building on S Street, which is visible from Highway 50, was just completed. It delivers 80 kilowatts of power produced by the sun, which is enough power to provide electricity for about 40 single-family homes or provide hydrogen for about 14 fuel-cell vehicles. Construction on the hydrogen fueling station will be done by the end of the year. Until then, the solar power generated by the panels will feed into the SMUD grid.

Designed as a demonstration project, the solar-powered fueling station will fuel the seven fuel-cell electric vehicles that SMUD is testing in a partnership with BP, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler. As the solar panels make electricity, an electrolyzer at the station will use that energy to separate water into hydrogen to make clean fuel for the vehicles. The amount of hydrogen produced at the site will be kept low for safety considerations.

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