RDP and Exro introduce first of its kind Cell Driver Energy Storage System

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

They’re in the process of manufacturing more in the U.S. but all of the units designed in Calgary will be distributed within Canada.

Pursue new contract with province

City council decides to use additional tax dollars to maintain integrated fire and ambulance service

6h ago

Located on 40 Avenue

Bower Woods rezoning goes ahead at Red Deer city council meeting

10h ago

april 30 to may 2

Measles exposure suspected at The Hamlets in Gasoline Alley

11h ago

It typically takes two to three months to build and are now able to roll out these systems to companies and organizations after receiving the proper certification.

“This is the first one and there’s more on the way,” Meekison said. “It’s very exciting that we were able to work with Red Deer because it was very important for us to look in our home yard in terms of where we wanted to start deploying these energy source devices. Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Alberta in general is where we wanted to start. We’ll then start branching out across Canada, we’re looking at opportunities in B.C., Ontario, and the U.S. after that.”

The RDP installation integrates Exro’s Cell Driver™ system with a 1.6-megawatt rooftop solar system (nearly 4,200 solar panels) and a one-megawatt Combined Heat and Power Unit installed in partnership with Inferno Solar, at RDP’s Energy Innovation Centre.

Meekison explained they had reached out to RDP because they’re keen on working with institutions that are exploring energy transition. They first began discussions over a year ago and it seemed to be a great fit.

“The system will ultimately be able to manage power but also more importantly students will be able to work with it and actually start to develop thesis and assignments about how energy is managed,” he added.

(Ian Gustafson/ rdnewsNOW staff)

To their knowledge, this is the only certified product on the market with these capabilities. There are companies that use similar technology but with their own technology they can manage in real time individual battery cells.

They can turn them off and on and route cells that are defective to ones that are not. This is important to keeping the system up and running.

“When we talk about an energy storage unit there’s three parts to it: the battery, cabinet/ housing, and then there’s the brain or what we call the power electronics,” he said.

“It’s kind of like a chip inside the computer that allows your computer to run.”

Tonya Wolfe, Associate Vice President of Applied Research, at Red Deer Polytechnic said having this system is beneficial to RDP not only because one of it’s kind but because it allows them to solve problems for industry.

“It’s not a home solution, although it can be, but it can be scaled so we can really understand how we generate energy but also store it here in our lab for applied research but also showcasing to our industry partners how this technology actually works,” she said.

She explained this project was completely funded through a grant by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation as part of the Energy Innovation Centre.