Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc., the Pullman-based producer of energy protection equipment and systems, is working on a power-grid upgrade for Stanford University campus in the heart of Silicon Valley, says Eddie Schweitzer, SEL business development director.

The project aims to improve the reliability of the power system on Stanford’s 8,100-acre campus near Palo Alto, Calif., says Schweitzer, son of SEL founder, president, and CEO Edmund Schweitzer.

One component of the project will involve installing equipment to protect electrical systems from undesired explosive electrical discharges called arc flashes, Schweitzer says. Another component will enable the university to isolate and operate its own microgrid separate from connected utilities, he says.

SEL also will provide onsite training and support for system operators, he says.

Schweitzer declines to disclose the value of the contract for the project, which is expected to be completed in June.

SEL engineers currently are in the design phase of the project that will include a centralized system for monitoring and controlling the campus power grid remotely from a central location, rather than from a number of locations, he says.

The arc flash-prevention equipment will help protect against injuries and other damages, Schweitzer says, explaining that an arc flash can occur if something bridges the gap between conductors of different voltages. 

“An arc flash can be so large it could destroy equipment and seriously injure or kill anyone close,” he says. “We’re working to put in equipment that SEL manufactures that will interrupt an arc flash much more quickly than standard technology.”

The microgrid portion of the project will enable the university to rely upon on-campus power generation if a widespread outage should occur in the surrounding power grid, Schweitzer says.

Because the university uses more power than is generated on campus, isolating it from the surrounding power grid requires technology to deploy a load-shedding strategy to keep the microgrid stable.

“Load shedding will shed noncritical loads and allow onsite generation to provide the load to critical systems,” Schweitzer says.

The Stanford project is similar to a project SEL completed last year for Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., following two 2012 incidents that caused dozens of buildings on the Purdue campus to lose power.

The outages disrupted classes and other operations at the university, Schweitzer says. “One event was on the first day of class, and the university had to send students home.”

Today, a distribution automation system designed and installed by SEL monitors and controls the Purdue campus power system, he says.

While the Stanford project is among SEL’s larger university power-management projects, the company’s products and technology are being used on more than 100 college campuses around the world, Schweitzer says.