Kettle Brand currently has enough solar panels on the roof of its Salem plant to make 250,000 bags of Kettle Chips, even though this is applicable when the sun is available. A new smart-grid project is being launched today, whereas they persevere in testing the renewable energy stored in a room full of lithium-ion batteries to help aid the solar power plant in Salem. These batteries to be used are stored in a newly established facility, known as Salem Smart Power Center, which can store up to 5 megawatts (in other words, has the capacity to power 3,500 homes).
"This is the first of its kind in the nation and in the industry," said Kevin Whitener, smart-grid project manager for Portland General Electric. "We're used to calling upon energy sources when we need them, but sun and wind aren't great for that. With this project, we can take that sun and wind energy and store it so it can be available when our customers want to use it."
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| Kettle Foods potato chip factory in Salem has 616 solar panels on its roof, but the amount of power they produce fluctuates with the availability of the sun |
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