Turning to the Sun
FACING THE CHALLENGE: SOLAR MICRO-GRIDS FOR EMERGENCY POWER
Nurcin, Associate Professor - University of Miami's College of Engineering
Coral Gables is proposing a new way to keep the power flowing at its emergency operations center during hurricanes: Solar panels to make electricity during the day and batteries to store it for later use.
The proposal for solar microgrids earned Coral Gables a spot this spring among 35 finalists in the U.S. Mayors Challenge to find innovative solutions to urban woes. More than 320 cities offered ideas for the challenge, organized by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s nonprofit Bloomberg Philanthropies.
As a finalist, Coral Gables is receiving up to $100,000 to develop a proto-type and submit plans for the next round of competition. This month, one city will be selected for a $5 million top prize and four others for $1 million each to create models for other cities to follow. To design the prototype, the city is working with University of Miami Associate Professor Nurcin Celik, (above) who runs the simulation and optimization research lab at UM’s College of Engineering.
“We want to see how microgrids can manage on their own in ‘island mode,’ not just how they operate while hooked up to the main grid,” she says. “Disasters happen, but the goal is that once they do happen, we should be able to take action immediately.”
