Several operational challenges led Ehrlich Toyota in Greeley, CO to invest in a resilient microgrid system to improve energy independence, protect assets, and reduce operating costs.
The dealership faced three major issues:
- High hail insurance premiums due to frequent and severe hailstorms common to the Colorado plains.
- Frequent power outages—three to six per year—resulting in sales disruptions and lost customer satisfaction.
- Rising utility bills that negatively impacted profitability.
The dealership's solution was to deploy a solar powered microgrid, centered around a solar canopy that shields inventory from hail damage while generating clean energy. The site includes 386 kW of SunPower solar PV modules, SMA CORE1 PV inverters, a Dynapower MPS-i125 battery energy storage system, and Generac’s ARC microgrid control system.
Installed in collaboration with IPOWER Alliance, the ARC controller coordinates the microgrid technology, enabling real-time control and optimization. A portion of the battery is reserved for backup power during outages, ensuring operational continuity. The rest is allocated for microgrid energy applications like solar self-consumption, time-of-use (TOU) rate shifting, and demand charge management—maximizing savings.
Due to utility transformer limitations, ARC’s microgrid software actively curtails PV output when needed to remain under the site's export limit, ensuring grid compliance while optimizing local energy use.
The Ehrlich Toyota deployment exemplifies how a commercial microgrid can serve as both a financial and operational asset—delivering resilience, energy efficiency, and infrastructure protection in a single integrated platform.
