The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded a Public Works grant to MSL’s education partner, Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). This EDA investment will support SFCC’s Building Energy Automation and Microgrid Training Center (BEAMtc), supplied with the necessary equipment to train workers to meet industry driven job demand. The total project budget is over $700,000, with cost-share from the State of New Mexico and Siemens Industry. (more…)
MSL is very pleased to announce that HOMER Energy has joined as a Member organization. HOMER is the world’s leading microgrid modeling software company. The HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources) microgrid software navigates the complexities of building cost effective and reliable microgrids that combine traditionally generated and renewable power, storage, and load management. With over 145,000 users in 193 countries, HOMER is the established global leader for microgrid design optimization and feasibility, and HOMER Energy is a nexus for the microgrid market.
MSL and HOMER will explore several areas of immediate and longer-term collaboration, utilizing their respective networks and core competencies. In particular, there are many aspects of workforce training and professional certification across geographical ares that are an increasingly important ecosystem factor. With its partner Santa Fe Community College, MSL will work with HOMER to develop an effective training capacity, and the modeling software will be incorporated into the microgrid curriculum at SFCC. (more…)
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is collaborating with MSL and Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) in their efforts to develop an advanced campus-wide microgrid for training, research, and testing and validation. NREL is a member of MSL, and SFCC is a founding MSL partner with responsibility for workforce and professional development initiatives.
The campus microgrid will be a state-of-the-art facility, unique among community colleges and comparable to university campus installations, with an emphasis on supporting the college’s educational mission, sustainability goals, operational efficiencies, and MSL’s strategic objectives. It will link existing assets, including a 1.5 megawatt photovoltaic array and a district heating and cooling system, with new technology that is capable of demonstrating the full range of advanced microgrid functionality. (more…)
MSL Partner Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) and its Sustainable Technologies Center has received two funding commitments in support of its Microgrid Education Center (MEC), which now begins its planning and development phase. Together, these commitments address both curriculum and associated equipment and infrastructure, including a campus-wide functional microgrid testbed, in a way that supports MSL’s overall mission and objectives.
The Microgrid Education Center will provide technical training, ongoing development for industry professionals, custom training for industry, and upper-level courses and advanced degrees through university partnerships, along with “train the trainer” offerings for global applications. The electric industry workforce is graying rapidly, and will require large numbers of new workers soon, with concurrent growth internationally in rural electrification. In order to keep pace with the technological innovations affecting the industry, there will be a crucial need for appropriately trained technical staff at all levels and sectors of the industry, a need that MEC will help address. The initial course at SFCC, with the working title of “Introduction to Sustainable Energy Technologies,” will be offered in the spring semester of 2016, and the Smart Grid and Microgrid Program flier can be dowloaded here.
