Photovoltaic Demonstration

The Energy Center's grid connected PV

Photovoltaic (PV) energy systems show promise as a renewable energy source in Iowa.  To demonstrate the performance of PV, the Iowa Energy Center funded a student grant to construct two grid-connected systems. 

The stationary system is located at the Energy Center’s main office building in Ames and is attached to the roof structure. The dual-axis tracking system is located at the Energy Center's Biomass Energy Conversion (BECON) Facility in Nevada.  Both systems are fully equipped with high accuracy instrumentation and data acquisition. 

The public can monitor the two sites' instantaneous performance via a real-time web-interface (click on PV Demo: Real-time Performance Data in the Additional Information box). 

Coming soon, a web cam at each PV demonstration site.

Iowa Energy Center PV demonstration diagram: (larger image available)