ACEP Training Tool Illuminates Electricity Understanding

ACEP’s new microgrid training tool, the Illumination Station, is an interactive display with a fully functional solar power system to teach renewable energy integration into microgrids. The system includes solar panels, a charge controller, an inverter, a battery bank, circuit breakers, lighting loads and outlets.

The Illumination Station was designed to teach basic electrical safety, the difference between a home energy system and a microgrid, how to calculate currents and voltages in a system, and how to appropriately size components and protection.

The training tool was first used for hands-on exercises at the 2019 ACEP Microgrid Boot Camp to prepare ACEP utility student interns for their assignments with various utilities across ÀÖ»¢Ö±²¥.
To learn more about the Illumination Station, please contact Jeremy Vandermeer at jbvandermeer@alaska.edu.

 

The Illumination Station features a microgrid powered by a solar panel. Photo by Jeremy Vandermeer.