Salt River Project (SRP) and the Conservation and Renewable Energy Collaboratory (CREC) at ASU’s College of Technology and Innovation (CTI) have partnered for a second year to award a $170,000 grant to fund research initiatives in renewable energy and conservation.
This year the SRP-CREC research program selected four projects for funding. Projects include: reliability and performance testing of batteries in hot and dry climates; solar hot water system testing and evaluation; use of algae for bioremediation of water; and evaluation of solar photovoltaic (PV) performance and degradation.
“CTI faculty and students collaboratively work with our industry partners like SRP to define important, use-inspired research problems,” said Mitzi Montoya, vice provost and dean of CTI. “Industry partners like SRP are the foundation of the college and provide an important component of our project-based learning and applied research model.”
In addition to its sponsorship of the CREC research program, SRP has been a long-standing supporter and sponsor of the iProjects program at CTI. iProjects pair students with mentors and companies to find solutions to real world-challenges. This year, two student teams will work on projects that will benefit SRP and the electric utility industry. One team will develop an electrical model that will allow the utility industry to better plan for and forecast the impact of distributed generation and energy storage methods on high penetration utility systems. A second team will work to develop a portable battery impedance tester for battery technicians to monitor battery state of health on solar installations and substations.
“During our partnership with CTI, we have engaged in innovative research with talented faculty and students on important issues affecting SRP and our customers,” said John Sullivan, SRP’s associate general manager and chief resources executive. “We are pleased with the collaborative relationship that SRP is developing with CTI, and we look forward to continuing to develop this important partnership in the coming year.”
