An innovative response to the challenge of storing renewable energy

26. A system for managing and storing energy, developed by EPFL's Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory, has been inaugurated on the school's campus. The system, which received extensive co-financing from the Canton of Vaud, is built around an industrial-capacity battery developed by Vaud-based company Leclanché. It is now connected to the Romande Energie-EPFL solar park and will be used to conduct real-world tests on the behavior of a power grid that is fed electricity from solar panels. The experimental storage system was inaugurated today and is now connected to the Romande Energie-EPFL solar park, one of the largest in French-speaking Switzerland. Researchers will use it to study new, industrial-scale solutions for using renewable energies (especially solar energy) and feeding them into the power distribution grid, as part of the 'EPFL Smart Grid' project. Useful life far above average - The system, which is the size of a shipping container, is unique for its underlying technology: it is based on high-performance lithium-ion titanate cells manufactured by Vaud-based company Leclanché.