Miller Community Center Solar Microgrid
Seattle City Light partnered with Seattle Parks and Recreation to install a solar-powered microgrid with battery energy storage at Miller Community Center, located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
The Miller Community Center microgrid provides solar power for the Center’s regular operations and up to 16 hours of backup power when fully charged during emergency events, such as a windstorm or unplanned power outage. This ensures the Center's services and communications are operational when community members need them.
Following the project’s completion in April 2022, we invited special guests, including Governor Jay Inslee, Mayor Bruce Harrell, and other city leaders, to come tour the facility and discuss its importance to the neighborhood.
"Our clean energy future has arrived, right here at the Miller Community Center," Governor Inslee said. "The families and students in this community now have access to more reliable, resilient, carbon-free electricity. This is the kind of project we look forward to celebrating in neighborhoods all across Washington state."
The findings from this project will also determine how Seattle Parks and Recreation and other City partners can incorporate innovative technologies like microgrids in their operations.
Moving forward, in partnership with researchers at the University of Washington, we will continue to objectively measure and report on the effectiveness of the project and optimize system performance.
During normal operations, solar panels will power the community center and charge the microgrid’s batteries. When the solar panels are not generating energy, the batteries can take the place of electric delivery from City Light's distribution grid. The microgrid, solar panels, and batteries provide solar power for the Center’s regular operations and up to 16 hours of backup power when fully charged during emergency events.
In August 2016, Gov. Inslee announced $12.6 million in Clean Energy Fund grants to five utilities in the state of Washington. The Washington State Department of Commerce selected Seattle City Light's microgrid resiliency project for a $1.5 million grant. This grant provided a portion of the funds for the project. City Light funded an additional $1.8 million in project costs.
The City of Seattle worked with several groups on this project, including:
- City Partners: Seattle City Light, Seattle Parks & Recreation, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
- Owner's Engineer: Engineering contractor, DNV was hired for their microgrid expertise. They evaluated sites for the microgrid and oversaw the project through design, construction, commissioning and testing.
- Analytics Team: The University of Washington will gather data and perform analysis of the microgrid, and community and system benefits.
- Building Engineered Systems Contractor: Worley Parsons Group, Inc. designed, built, tested, and commissioned the microgrid.
A new interior art piece, Connected Community, was installed at Miller Community Center through a partnership with the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and the City Light 1% for Art Fund. Artist, Julia Harrison, commissioned the piece with input from the Miller Park community. The artwork combines and celebrates solar energy and community.
