Observations: Hawaii picks Maui luxury resort as site to test smart-grid technology

…GE announced in July it was working with Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric Company, the University of Hawaii’s Natural Energy Institute and the U.S. Energy Department to launch the Maui Smart Grid project. This project’s goal is to develop and demonstrate the use of smart grid technologies and help Maui Electric control peak circuit demand, maintain adequate circuit voltage levels, and integrate intermittent renewable energy resources such as wind and solar.

Maui Smart Grid Project developers especially want to address wind’s unpredictability—a major barrier to its widespread use as a reliable green technology and one that prompts the state to continue depending on oil-fueled generators—by developing grid communications and controls that help Maui Electric coordinate various resources, such as distributed generation, energy storage, voltage controls and residential loads…

via Observations: Hawaii picks Maui luxury resort as site to test smart-grid technology. – Scientific American