An electricity incubator project in Menifee, California aims to break new ground in what it means to live, work and play in a connected, sustainable world. The planned community, 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles, is the result of a partnership between KB Home, SunPower, Kia America, the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the United States Department of Energy.
When construction is complete, the microgrid Shadow Mountain neighborhood will be solar- and battery-powered. Its design aims to reduce carbon emissions, cut energy costs and provide new ways at looking at electricity use.
The focus on sustainable electrification extends to vehicles with the Kia EV6 playing a prominent role. Ten all-electric EV6 crossovers will be part of the community. They have been enabled to allow high-output vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functions. The project is the first demonstration of V2H at the community-level scale in the U.S.
These capabilities will allow drivers to generate, store, and redistribute energy in a process similar in fashion to what the Ford F-150 Lightning is able to do with its Intelligent Backup Power bidirectional charging capability.
Project partner SunPower recently announced that it's teamed up with General Motors to give 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV owners the opportunity to have bidirectional charging at home when the electric pickup hits the market in autumn of 2023.
The Wallbox Quasar 2, which was introduced at this year's CES, will be integral to the Menifee project. It is not yet commercially available.
The EV6s will be deployed at the end of the project's first year and they will remain part of the community for three years. Their involvement will be analyzed and used to help develop future product.
SunPower conceptualized the projected and serves as its lead. The solar energy company will oversee the project partners and facilitate the community's operations. They'll supply and install their Equinox solar system, in-home SunVault battery storage, which serves as the community battery and EV charging options for each home.
"These first-of-their-kind connected communities are designed to be the most energy efficient, blackout-resilient communities possible today. These state-of-the-art all-electric homes will be solar powered, equipped with individual battery storage and connected to a microgrid powered by a large, shared community battery, offering a blueprint for sustainable and resilient new home development of the future," Matt Brost, Vice President of Sales, New Homes, at SunPower told Newsweek.
"Moreover, the community will be capable of providing grid services by dispatching stored energy to the grid and through controls of flexible loads, including thermostats, heat-pump water heaters, and EV charging."
Residents will be able to use an app to customize and track their energy usage and storage.
Every microgrid home will be certified as a Department of Energy-designated Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH). That certification goes beyond the established Energy Star, WaterSense and Indoor AirPlus programs that have been established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The project received a $6.65 million USD grant from the Department of Energy.
KB Home was one of the first national homebuilders to develop solar communities and net-zero homes in the U.S. The company pioneered adding battery storage technology and gray water recycling systems in new homes.
"Throughout its history, KB Home has been at the forefront of innovation and energy solutions that benefit homebuyers. This project is no different as the project partners will conduct research to measure the energy efficiency of each energy-smart connected community in comparison to traditional residential solar communities," Dan Bridleman, KB Home's Senior Vice President of sustainability, technology and strategic sourcing told Newsweek.
"We will explore how to build all-electric homes that will more effectively meet the requirements of future energy codes and how an energy-smart connected community, energy storage batteries and bidirectional EV chargers can work together to maximize efficiency and comfort — and help keep the power on for a certain period of time at a community level. The research will continue throughout and beyond the development cycle of both communities."
Additional partners include Schneider Electric and Southern California Edison.
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