St. Charles To Test Experimental Energy Technology

It’s called the Ice Bear, and if you compared it to the ice maker in your freezer, you would not be far off — except that it won’t be making ice for drinks, and it’s at least several times larger than your refrigerator.

The idea behind the device is to use it during the summer months in conjunction with a heating, ventilation-air-conditioning system to reduce power costs. And the city of St. Charles will get one of the $75,000 Ice Bear units in the Public Works Department’s Water Treatment Lab Building at no cost as part of the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency’s Energy Efficiency Program with Verde Energy USA. The project will include replacing the HVAC in the building with one equipped with the Ice Bear.

Here’s how it works.

Standard air-conditioning units suck up a lot of electricity while cooling a home during the hottest part of the day, which in the summer is the time of highest demand for power and when rates are at their highest.

St. Charles Public Services Manager Peter Suhr told the City Council on Nov. 26 that the Ice Bear replaces conventional condensing units in the air-conditioning system. It operates at night, when power is much less expensive, to produce ice — apparently lots of ice — which is used during the daytime as a cooling element in the system.

That is where the savings come in, Suhr told the council, because it shifts the greatest power use from the daytime hours to night, when electrical power demand drops and rates are lower.

The council voted unanimously to participate in the program.

Earlier this week, the city and Verde heralded the venture as a clean energy efficiency partnership and demonstration project.

This proven, clean energy storage system will achieve energy efficiencies, reduce costs, and enhance grid reliability related to air conditioning, according to the release. The project starts this month and continues throughout 2013.

“We are very pleased to be among the first municipalities in Illinois to enter into a partnership to install this clean, efficient energy solution,” Mayor Donald P. DeWitte said in the joint press release. “The equipment and turnkey installation costs will be covered by an investment made directly by Verde, and we expect to showcase how this technology achieves savings through more efficient air-conditioning operations going forward. We look forward to working with Verde to evaluate the performance of this technology in the coming year.

“St. Charles prides itself on being a progressive community focused on sustainability, and we are pleased to partner with Verde to utilize a clean technology that will provide savings to taxpayers.”