Los Alamos kicks off smart grid project

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - Los Alamos is launching a $27 million smart grid project aimed at setting new standards for alternative energy use.

Representatives from the northern New Mexico community, the state of New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization met Wednesday to kick off the project.

The project will build a 2-megawatt photovoltaic facility and a 7-megawatt-hour battery storage system.

It also plans a smart house, which would be a demonstration home using the latest construction techniques, smart meters and smart appliances for the best use of power and for conservation.

The program manager for the lab's applied energy program office, Karl Jonietz, says the project will help resolve how to make power efficient over the long-term and do that cheaply and reliably.

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Information from: Los Alamos Monitor