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Vermont’s Net Zero Renewable Resources Goes Big with Blue Ion

December 5, 2019
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3 Min
image of battery system

Building Resilience and Independence

Net Zero Renewable Resources (NZRR) is an independent, family-owned solar and energy storage contractor. The father-and-son team of Lee and Paul Gustafson is well known for the installation of high-quality systems throughout its service territory of southern Vermont and New Hampshire. When Green Mountain Power, a progressive utility in Vermont, was looking for opportunities to showcase energy storage systems that provide resilience within its power grid, NZRR was the perfect installation partner.

image of two people in front of solar panels

Lee Gustafson had been discussing options for a grid-independent solar and energy storage system with the owners of a large, historic Vermont homestead. While there is utility power at the site, the property owners wanted to invest in a renewable energy system that would allow them to operate independently of the grid. Their goal was to show how energy storage, solar generation, and power conversion electronics can work in concert to create safe, durable, and resilient power systems that do not rely on carbon-based fuel.NZRR used equipment from another Vermont company, AllEarth Renewables, to construct two 24-module trackers to maximize solar generation on site. The trackers support Winaico solar modules that the Gustafson’s have found to be excellent quality and provide high value for their customers.

image of battery system

Blue Ion and Schneider Electric Integration

To meet the energy requirement of the site’s multiple buildings, NZRR designed a high-capacity energy storage system that integrates 160 kWh (usable) of Blue Ion 2.0 lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) batteries with three 6.8 kW Schneider Electric inverter-chargers. Blue Ion’s LFP batteries are fire-safe, non-toxic, and carry the industry’s strongest energy storage performance warranty—15-years or 8,000 cycles to 70% remaining capacity. Schneider has approved the Blue Ion 2.0 as a preferred energy storage system for seamless integration with its power conversion equipment."This 160 kWh storage system is the second-largest Blue Ion 2.0 system we’ve installed. The Blue Ion 2.0 product has proven itself to be a robust and reliable power supply for this grid-independent Vermont homestead."—Lee Gustafson, Net Zero Renewable Resources.

PROJECT: New England residence

LOCATION: Southern Vermont

APPLICATION: Residential grid-independent

PARTNERS: Net Zero Renewable ResourcesBlue Planet EnergySchneider ElectricGreen Mountain Power

EQUIPMENT PROFILE:Storage: (10) 16 kWh Blue Ion 2.0, 160 kWh totalPower Conversion: (3) Schneider Electric Conext XW+ 6848 inverters (4) Conext MPPT 80-600 charge controllersModules: (48) Winaico 310 W, 14.9 kW totalTrackers: (2) 24-module AllEarth Renewables trackers

View and download the customer success story here.