Toshiba demos emergency off-grid renewable power system

Solar panels and electrolysis in a box can provide for 300 people for a week says Japanese firm

Japanese firm Toshiba is to demonstrate its emergency off-grid “energy supply system” at Kawasaki Port over a five year period from next April.

The system can provide an estimated 300 evacuees with electricity and hot water for about one week and has been designed to provide electricity and hot water after an emergency from just sunlight and water. It can be transported to disaster-hit areas by a lorry.

Engineers will install the demonstrator at Kawasaki Port by next April in a designated emergency evacuation area and it will run for five years to demonstrate the reliability of the system.

The off-grid energy supply system combines photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, a storage battery, electrolysis equipment that produces hydrogen from water, hydrogen and water tanks, and fuel cells. Electricity generated from the photovoltaic installations is used to electrolyse water and produce hydrogen, which is then stored in the hydrogen tank and used by the fuel cells to provide electricity and hot water.

Under normal circumstances the system’s overall energy management system will be used to contribute to peak shifting and peak cutting for power used in a local park.