Powerstar Virtue can turn large power users into a virtual power station.

Any organisations with large power bills will be interested to know about an innovative energy storage system that could save them tens of thousands of dollars a year in energy costs.

Called Powerstar Virtue, it has been developed by the manufacturer of Powerstar, the world’s market-leading range of voltage optimisation (VO) systems.

Large users, whether commercial, industrial, retail, educational or government, negotiate power contracts that comprise a mix of peak and off-peak tariffs.

The new Powerstar Virtue works with the patented Powerstar VO technology and harnesses the excess voltage supplied from the grid that Powerstar VO would normally return to the grid to generate energy savings.

While this technology can generate average savings of 12-15% pa, Powerstar Virtue takes this one step further for large power users. The system stores the excess and deploys it at times when the cost of power is at peak tariff, thereby producing even greater savings than using voltage optimisation alone.

Mr Sam Czyczelis, operations director of Powerstar Australasia, said that considering most buildings receive power from the grid at 247V and most electrical equipment is designed to work most efficiently at 220-230V, there is quite a lot of ‘wasted’ energy in this scenario.

“By directing this excess power to storage when the cost of power is priced at the low tariff, when the high tariff kicks in or during the maximum demand period, there is sufficient stored power to go off the grid completely for two hours or reduce kilowatt usage to 50 per cent ‘new’ power for four hours,” he said.

“The new technology is equally relevant for a high or low demand user with low energy peak rates, which is common in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, allowing them to reduce their maximum demand dramatically. For example, if they have a one or two hour period during the day when the air conditioning is cranked up, this would be the perfect time to bring in the stored power.

Users become a Virtual Power Station
“It means that Powerstar Virtue allows users to become a virtual power station and it can reliably forecast how much power will be available at all times. Therefore, informed decisions can be made on when stored energy should be used, which will allow organisations to reduce electricity costs by significant amounts.”

Powerstar Virtue can be integrated with on-site renewable energy generation such as solar and wind, to combine the energy saved from the VO system with that generated from the renewable energy source.

As a result, users can save by switching to the stored supply at any time they wish, as well as ensuring a constant and reliable energy supply.

An additional benefit is that the need for inverters on renewable installations is eliminated, which can reduce the cost and therefore improve the return on investment. And because inverters inherently have power losses, which no longer occur with the Powerstar Virtue energy storage system, further savings are produced.

Sites will also benefit from reduced harmonics, voltage phase balancing, improved power factor and reduced maintenance costs of electrical equipment.

“We expect this innovative solution to attract interest from the commercial and industrial sectors that are looking for significant electricity savings and the flexibility and reliability the new Powerstar Virtue can provide.

“Grid operators and utilities will also benefit from being able to provide a more efficient and effective electrical network with increased stability and no interruptions,” Sam Czyczelis said.

As with all Powerstar voltage optimisation solutions, a 100% savings guarantee is provided. Additional security and financial support is provided through Powerstar Australia’s Smart Energy Alliance vendor finance program.