Past Projects

A team from the thin-film solar panel manufacturer MiaSolé approached CPAU to receive feedback on their proof-of-concept, off-the-shelf, do-it-yourself, pre-packaged solar PV system for residential and small commercial applications. CPAU staff coordinated meetings between the MiaSolé team and the appropriate staff from the CPAU Engineering division and the City’s Building department, who provided valuable feedback to MiaSolé on how to modify their product to make it code-compliant. The MiaSolé team is now working to deploy their product on two beta sites in Palo Alto, and CPAU staff are monitoring their progress.

A research team from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University held a kick-off workshop on March 30, 2016, for their U.S. Department of Energy funded “VADER: Visualization and Analytics of Distributed Energy Resources” research program. Two CPAU staff working on distributed energy resources and emerging technologies participated in the workshop. The proposed VADER program is to develop an open-source unified data analytics platform that will enable the integration of high penetrations of renewables on the electric distribution system. CPAU staff provided feedback to help maximize the value of the results of the 3-year research program to Palo Alto’s service territory and other similar small municipal utilities. Outcomes will facilitate the City reaching multiple strategic sustainability goals, including meeting 4% of our energy needs from local solar by 2023.

CPAU is partnering with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) Innovation Center for a research pilot that utilizes passive signals in the home, such as electricity, gas, and water data from advanced metering infrastructure, to allow family caregivers to remain updated on the well being of their senior family members. CPAU staff first successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of implementing the pilot project with the City’s utility infrastructure at two volunteer households. At present, PAMF and CPAU are recruiting 20 more pilot participants for the study to achieve the goal of reaching 50 households. Please contact Utilities Program Services at CPAUresidential@cityofpaloalto.org or (650) 329-2241 for more information about participating in the pilot program.

In partnership with Nexant, CPAU officially launched a pilot portal on February 1, 2016, called iEnergy for data management, analytics and customer engagement. Through the portal, all residential utilities customers will be able to better manage and control their energy and water usage. For instance, portal users will be able to view historical monthly consumption data, receive information on CPAU’s efficiency programs and rebates offerings, and learn more about renewable energy and related program opportunities. Additional portal features are slated to roll out in March.

Staff have been working with Nexant to launch a pilot portal called iEnergy for data management, analytics and customer engagement. Through the portal, utilities customers will be able to better manage and control their energy and water usage. For instance, portal users will be able to view historical monthly consumption data, to receive information on CPAU’s efficiency programs and rebates offerings, and to learn more about renewable energy and related program opportunities. Enrollment is currently planned to begin in early November 2015.

CPAU submitted a letter of support for an application for federal funding submitted by a research team from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University. The team was notified in mid-August that their proposal was selected for funding. The proposed research program is to develop an open-source unified data analytics platform that will enable the integration of high penetrations of renewables on the electric distribution system. Outcomes would facilitate the City reaching multiple strategic sustainability goals, including meeting 4% of our energy needs from local solar by 2023. CPAU is currently in discussions regarding a prospective partnership for the research program.

For the past several months, Staff have been working with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) Innovation Center to evaluate the technical feasibility of deploying a research pilot called "linkages Connect" on Palo Alto's utility distribution systems. "linkages Connect uses passive signals in the home, such as electricity, gas, and water data from advanced metering infrastructure, to allow family caregivers to remain updated on the wellbeing of their senior family members. Since changes in well-established daily routines of seniors are often an indication of shifts in health status, regular utility usage patterns can be an additional mode of communication that signals all is well with a senior family member who is living alone. Staff is currently working with two volunteer households to test the technical feasibility of the PAMF proposal, which, if successful, will lead to a pilot scale deployment.

A research team from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University submitted an application for federal funding for a proposed research program developing an open-source unified data analytics platform that will enable the integration of high penetrations of renewables on the electric distribution system. Through PET, CPAU submitted a letter of support for their application and this area of research, the outcomes of which would facilitate the City reaching multiple strategic sustainability goals, including meeting 4% of our energy needs from local solar by 2023.

Staff is currently working with TSO Logic to identify a 3rd party host site to demonstrate their energy efficiency software for data centers. Their software solution focuses on IT workload and creating visibility into the server environment, application performance, and energy consumption. Past case studies have demonstrated up to 50% energy savings.

CPAU staff completed a report documenting results from the advanced lighting system pilot project(PDF, 816KB) in the Palo Alto City Hall underground parking garage, which was carried out from January through March 2014. The pilot project is in partnership with Enlighted Inc and Next Lighting. The report quantified the energy savings potential demonstrated in the pilot, along with providing an estimated lifetime cost/benefit analyses for retrofitting the entire Palo Alto Civic Center parking garage. Results from the pilot project strongly support retrofitting the Civic Center underground parking garages with LED lamps and advanced lighting controls. The demonstrated energy savings from the pilot was 72% in the most energy efficient scenario, which led to an estimated payback period of within a decade. Furthermore, stakeholders representing parking garage users strongly supported the City's efforts to modernize the lighting system and increase efficiency in municipal buildings.

City staff is launching a 6-month pilot project in partnership with Petra Systems to demonstrate their solar-on-a-light-pole technology in Palo Alto. In November, Solar photovoltaic (PV) modules were installed on nine City-owned street light poles along El Camino Real and connected with CPAU's distribution grid to deliver clean renewable energy to the community. Additional benefits of the system include providing a platform for monitoring the solar production and street light operations with real-time data posted online. The community is encouraged to submit any feedback about the pilot systems to CPAU. At the conclusion of the pilot, the project will be removed and CPAU staff will provide a summary report of findings.

The City is currently finalizing two pilot projects with Measurabl using their innovative "Turbo-Tax-style" software tools for easy calculating, reporting, and benchmarking of sustainability-related information. One pilot will focus on the City government, and the second will focus on small businesses in Palo Alto.

CPAU staff validated a customer-side demand management product from AutoGrid and its potential to benefit CPAU and our customers. CPAU and AutoGrid presented the product, which forecasts customers' monthly peak demand, giving them a chance to shave energy consumption during a few peak hours each month, at the quarterly facilities managers meeting. AutoGrid is currently soliciting participation for a solar project.