POWER July 2022 - 32

DISTRIBUTED ENERGY AWARD
Turning Public Transit into
a Solar Paradigm
Courtesy: Martha's Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA)
An innovative project that combines solar power with electric buses is POWER's
Distributed Energy Award winner. The microgrid it created can help the community
during emergencies, as well as during peak demand periods.
Kennedy Maize
S
inger-songwriter Paul Simon once
advised that one of the 50 ways to
leave your lover is to " hop on the
bus, Gus. " But on Martha's Vineyard, the
popular vacation destination off the Massachusetts
coast, hopping on the bus is
one of the best ways to get around the
storied island.
Hopping on a Martha's Vineyard Transit
Authority (VTA) bus can provide a surprising
glimpse of what may be an attractive,
pollution- and carbon-free energy
future. Half of the authority's fleet-16
buses-are fully solar electric, from top
to bottom, from carriage to storage, fueled
from the sun. By 2027, the VTA says
the entire bus fleet will be soaring 100%
on solar and storage. Goodbye diesel
fumes, geopolitical turmoil, and volatile
prices. Hello quiet.
A Microgrid of Rolling Power
Plants
Working with Enel X North America, with
an assist from solar firm Borrego, the
VTA in May 2021 began operating a $4
million solar-plus-storage microgrid that
powers an electric public transportation
bus fleet, enabling the community to rely
on solar power rather than diesel fuel,
decreasing risks caused by fuel price
fluctuations and pipeline disruptions.
Enel X says, " The Martha's Vineyard Transit
Authority (VTA) is setting the pace at
the forefront of the public transportation
industry with their microgrid and solar
charging port project. Together Enel X
and VTA have partnered together on a
project that embraces circularity through
vehicle electrification and renewable en32
ergy
as the keys to the future. "
" What Enel X has done is we've actually
purchased the solar panels that are
charging the electric buses here, " Joel
Harrington, director of public policy and
institutional affairs for Enel X's Eastern
region, said. " What VTA has done is also
creating an energy island where they can
effectively disconnect from the grid and
create their own energy services network
here, a microgrid, to supply their
bus fleet when either prices are really
high or in the event of an emergency-a
natural disaster-and public transportation
on the island is critical during those
times. So, by creating a microgrid here of
solar, energy storage, when there is an
emergency, when there is a storm, this
operation can continue to go, " he said.
" When the buses aren't running, you
have basically 16 rolling power plants.
And all the energy that is stored in those
clean energy power plants, we are able
to take that energy and effectively put
it back out onto the grid to reduce peak
demand when energy prices are really
high and fossil fuel generation is at its
peak [Figure 1]. We're offering a service
here to VTA that is both environmentally
friendly and helps them reduce their
costs, " said Harrington.
" Enel understood where we were
at as an organization. They really understood
what we were looking for
and what we wanted to achieve for our
community. They wanted to be a part of
something that was new in transit, and
they believed in us, " Angie Gompert, VTA
administrator, said. " By changing the vehicle
technology to a much quieter and
environmentally friendly technology, we
www.powermag.com
About Martha's
Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located
about seven miles off southern
Cape Cod in Massachusetts. It is the
third-largest island on the U.S. East
Coast after New York's Long Island
and Maine's Mount Desert Island. It's
20.5 miles long and has an area of 96
square miles. It is primarily a popular
and affluent summer vacation community,
known for its excellent beaches-some
public and some privately
owned. It also boasts a favorable summer
climate, rarely exceeding 90F.
Winters on an island in a northern
section of the Atlantic Ocean can be
rough, and Martha's Vineyard is no
exception. The island often faces severe
winter storms that blow across
it on the way to the more populous
mainland.
With about 17,000 year-round residents,
the population on the island
booms to about 200,000 in the summer.
It is accessible only by air or water
and is about 45 minutes by ferry
from Woods Hole to Edgartown, the
main population center on the island
(about 5,000 people) and the Dukes
County seat. The limited access to the
island makes it an ideal environment
for public transit.
became a better neighbor and a better
community member. The air is clean to
breathe and it's quiet. The drivers really
like them [and] the passengers like the
buses, " she said.
" It's important to me that the agency
is going to be built to be able to last and
POWER | July 2022
http://www.powermag.com
POWER July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER July 2022
