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GridLogicA Turnkey Microgrid-as-a-Service Solution

A microgrid is a small scale energy system that uses distributed energy resources

(DERs) to balance local needs. It can operate either in conjunction with,

or independently of, the utility grid if the grid is unavailable.

SolarCity GridLogic is a turnkey energy solution for communities to obtain the complete

benefit of traditional microgrids backed by the strength and experience that has made

SolarCity America’s #1 full-service distributed energy provider. SolarCity GridLogic

provides our best-in-class technology, financing, installation and ongoing services to

deliver a comprehensive energy management solution.

Our in-house team of experts and local installers will take care of your entire project from

start to finish, and support the operations of your microgrid for the life of the system.

As with all SolarCity products, GridLogic comes with an innovative payment structure

designed to suit your needs, including programs with little to no up-front costs.

GridLogic enables your community to have clean, affordable and resilient energy

without changing your daily system operations.

Key Benefits

� Clean SolarCity extends its leadership in clean energy to the microgrid, where your

community can experience the benefits of renewable energy day and night.

� Affordable Our innovative financing options can be structured to fit your needs,

while our dynamic and real-time control algorithms ensure that your microgrid is

always operating to maximize your energy savings.

� Resilient Our distributed energy architecture provides the dependable backup power

you need to keep critical facilities running when the utility grid is down.

Customer Solutions

� Municipalities Utilize clean, affordable energy while ensuring that your critical facilities

such as police stations, emergency operations centers, grocery stores and gas stations

are fully powered when you need them most.

� Remote Communities Hedge against high energy costs while operating through

grid outages.

� Campuses Backup your most critical facilities to ensure that your key personnel can

continue their work when it’s needed most.

� Military Bases Rely on local, secure and reliable energy delivery for mission-critical

operations, while drawing more from clean sources.

K E Y F E AT U R E S

Turnkey Design, Financing and Operations

� In-house engineering and design toprovide a tailored solution

� Innovative financing, including little tono upfront costs

� Seamless installation, commissioning,operations and support

Dynamic Monitoring and Control

� Highly flexible monitoring and controlplatform optimizes assets locally whilecentrally coordinating overall system

� Real-time forecasting of all generationassets and consumption

� Energy optimization engine maximizesoverall energy savings

� Islanding mode delivers critical powerwhile maintaining local power quality

Scalable Platform

� Incorporates any pre-existing, new andfuture distributed energy resources

� Lightweight yet robustcommunications platform

Resident Billing and Engagement

� Full-service system for setting rates,billing and reporting

� Web and mobile tools to engage andempower participants ofyour microgrid

GridLogic is a turnkey solution for communities to obtain dependable, reliable, clean and affordable energy in a single service that includes the deployment, operations and financing of microgrids.

Turnkey Design, Operations and MaintenanceSolarCity makes adoption simple. Our in-house teams will design,

install and maintain your microgrid. Once operational, our service

integrates, optimizes and dispatches a diverse portfolio of DERs,

including solar, energy storage, controllable loads and conventional

generation while balancing the use of utility power to meet your

full energy profile. In addition, GridLogic provides you with tools

that make billing simple and promote engagement among the

participants of the microgrid.

Financing

SolarCity makes GridLogic affordable and simple by offering both

pay-as-you-go and an upfront capital purchase models.

The monthly payments or total costs are calculated by performing

an assessment of your proposed system. Our team will analyze

your load profile to determine your consumption by day, evening

and peak hours. Our team will also evaluate the capabilities of

your existing DERs and distribution system. That assessment is

balanced with your overall objective, be it lowest costs, maximum

duration of backup power or something else.

Scalable Architecture

GridLogic is a scalable solution that can be deployed in multiple

scenarios, from individual buildings to entire communities.

Communications Platform

GridLogic is equipped with a flexible and robust communications

platform that monitors and manages all DERs on your microgrid.

The platform is designed to be lightweight and secure to

ensure reliable communication with all DERs, monitoring and

control equipment. Communications are maintained through a

combination of wired and wireless telecommunications links.

Dynamic Control Algorithms

GridLogic leverages dynamic control algorithms that monitor,

optimize and control your DERs. Each DER is monitored and

controlled locally using distributed intelligence, yet coordinated

through a central system. These algorithms utilize real-time

monitoring data, dynamic forecasts for DER and load, grid

parameters and constraints to deliver dependable energy service.

Distributed Energy Resources

GridLogic integrates renewable generation assets (i.e. solar, wind),

storage, conventional generation (i.e. fossil, microturbines) and

controllable loads to meet your community’s energy needs.

Our solution dynamically forecasts and controls these resources

to maximize your energy savings both while connected to the

utility grid and when operating in islanded mode.

Battery Storage

Ground Mount Solar

Backup Generator

Management Console

Messaging System

Homes

Distributed ResourcesSolar

BatteryControllable Load

CommercialFacilities

Transmission(optional)

SolarCity Microgrid Architecture Leveraging Distributed Energy Resources

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Technical Philosophy

GridLogic is built from the ground up on a set of principles and

building blocks tailored for the next generation of energy delivery:

distributed microgrids leveraging distributed energy resources.

Our philosophy enables seamless scalability, while leveraging the

distributed assets that unlock your community’s ability to deliver

clean, affordable and resilient power to its residents.

Guiding Principles

Fractal Theory

Fractals are complex systems created by repeating a simple

model at all scales, whether focused at the most granular point

or zoomed out to the macro system. GridLogic is built upon the

concept of fractals with nodes and connections, where each

node includes locally optimized DERs and loads. Each node is

self-contained and capable of operating autonomously as well

as in coordination with the macro system. A collection of nodes

itself becomes a locally optimized node. This concept simplifies

a complex system such as the electric grid into combinations

of stable and self-optimized building blocks that operate in

a coordinated fashion. This architecture can be scaled from

individual components to increasingly complex and large systems.

In the electric grid, the local optimization of buildings

thus leads to the coordinated control of neighborhoods,

circuits and communities.

Distributed Intelligence Hierarchy

The scalability of GridLogic is enabled by intelligence at every

node and level of the grid. Each node includes intelligence that

is capable of operating autonomously or through central control

signals. By moving beyond the traditional command-and-control

architecture of the existing grid, increasingly complex control and

optimization challenges can be solved. Distributed intelligence

enables the integration and coordination of significantly more

DERs, a task that is difficult for centralized systems.

Building Blocks

Smart Homes and Buildings

The smart home and building are the foundational energy assets

upon which to build the grid of the 21st century. Each smart home

and building contains a diverse set of controllable energy assets,

including solar, batteries and controllable load. By locally optimizing

these assets, the smart home and building become the flexible

building blocks for your microgrid.

Messaging System

GridLogic uses a proprietary communication protocol based on a

publish-subscribe messaging system. To enable communications,

the central coordinator and each DER are added as participants

on the system. Each utilizes the system to publish its status to all

participants and to subscribe to messages from other participants,

which then could be used to make adjustments to its own

operation. This results in a loosely coupled and scalable system,

where DERs can be added or removed with no significant impact

to rest of the system.

Messaging System

Subscriber

Coordinator

1

2

3

4

5

MessagingSystem

Participants of the messaging system can publish messages or subscribe to messages from other participants.

Example of demand response event:

1. Demand response event published2. Subscriber processes demand response event3. Local load reduced4. Net load is republished5. Coordinator subscribes to aggregate net load

Example of other events:

Voltage controlReactive power controlDesired net load schedulesPV curtailment

Hospital

West Village

Water PlantMarina18.4 kW 13.4 kW

58.2 kW98.7 kW

294.4 kW

School

East Village

Power Plant

422.4 kW92.1 kW90.4 kW

0.0 kW52.8 kW

9.7 kW0.0 kW

0.0 kW0.0 kW

Location

West Village

Hospital

Marina

Water Plant

Power Plant

TYPE

Battery

Load

PV

Generator

School

East Village

All

All Gross Load: 575.3kW PV: 698.8kW Battery: -123.4kW Generator: 0kW

Total

Connected

Alerts

Summary Charts

Real Time Historical

GenLoad

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

(200)

(150)

(50)

0

50

100

150

200

250

(100)

0

5

15

20

25

10

kWkW

kWkW

Time

Time

Time

Time

Total Solar PV Battery

Total Load Generator

GridLogic Management Console

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Control Capabilities

GridLogic is deployed with dynamic control capabilities that monitor real-time grid conditions and make continual adjustments to keep your community microgrid stable while delivering economically optimized energy at all times of day and night.

Energy Management

Through a combination of distributed intelligence and centralized

control, GridLogic continuously optimizes DER dispatch and load

consumption to maximize your community’s energy savings.

Production from microgrid DER assets is balanced against utility

grid availability based on prioritization by least cost.

Frequency Control

Frequency control is provided by generation assets using either

isochronous operation or enabling generator droop control in

response to varying load conditions. As part of commissioning,

SolarCity will configure the microgrid and generators to provide

continuous and automatic frequency control. GridLogic can

configure any of the following resource types to provide frequency

control: battery, combustion turbine, diesel generator, small hydro

and fuel cells.

Voltage and Reactive Power Management

Ensuring power quality is of critical importance. GridLogic ensures

power quality through dynamic voltage and reactive power

management, both autonomously and via centralized control

signals. By utilizing the embedded four-quadrant volt/VAR smart

inverter capabilities within your microgrid, voltage and reactive

power management can reliably ensure power quality is delivered

to within ANSI technical standards or better.

Monitoring and Control

SolarCity provides a full suite of systems for continuous and automatic operation of your microgrid, which provide seamless behind-the-scenes control and optimization. You can monitor and manage your microgrid using tools provided by SolarCity.

PowerGuide Monitoring

SolarCity’s proprietary PowerGuide system utilizes revenue-grade

metering and monitoring equipment to collect a real-time and

granular snapshot of all DERs and consumption. The GridLogic

Control System uses this data to make real-time adjustments,

day-ahead forecast and monitor overall system performance.

Islanding and Protection

In the event of a grid failure, your microgrid will automatically enter

island mode. By coordinating protection schemes and islanding

switchgear, your microgrid will continue to supply locally generated

electricity while it’s isolated from the utility grid. In addition,

non-critical loads will be automatically shut off to create a low

power state. GridLogic can be configured to permanently operate

islanded from the grid, or only during times of utility grid failure.

GridLogic islanding mode enables the highest level of resiliency

for critical facilities when power is needed most.

Dynamic Forecasting

In order to fully optimize economic energy delivery, DER generation

and load consumption are dynamically forecasted on an on-going,

day-of, and day-ahead basis. To ensure DER availability and

economic dispatch, the system continuously adjusts its projections

based on real-time monitoring data and historical performance to

improve forecasts.

Scalable Architecture

Communications Platform

GridLogic is equipped with a flexible and robust communications

platform that monitors and manages all DERs in your community

microgrid. The platform is designed to be lightweight and secure

to ensure reliable communication links to all DERs, monitoring

and control equipment. Communications are maintained though a

combination of wired and wireless telecommunications links.

Dynamic Control Algorithms

GridLogic’s foundation is built upon dynamic control algorithms that

seamlessly monitor, optimize, and control your portfolio of microgrid

DERs. Each DER is monitored and controlled locally using distributed

intelligence, yet and centrally coordinated through GridLogic’s

systemwide optimization engine. The control algorithms utilize real-

time monitoring data and dynamic DER and load forecasts along with

grid parameters and constraints to deliver dependable electric service.

Distributed Energy Resources

GridLogic integrates a diverse portfolio of DERs, including renewable

generation assets (i.e. solar, wind), conventional generation (i.e.

fossil generators, combined heat and power, and microturbines),

controllable loads, and the utility grid to meet your community’s

energy needs. Our solution dynamically forecasts and controls these

re-sources to maximize your energy savings both while connected to

the utility grid and when operating in islanded mode.

GridLogic Control System

The GridLogic Control System utilizes a combination of distributed

intelligence and central coordination to optimize and control

operations of your microgrid. The control system employs

real-time grid conditions along with dynamic forecasts of DERs

and load to create adjusted schedules for the dispatch of DERs

and power from the utility grid to maximize your energy savings.

GridLogic Management Console

The GridLogic Management Console collects, aggregates

and displays key performance metrics from each node of

the microgrid. The console provides visualizations to monitor

generation, consumption, voltage, frequency and power quality

in real-time and the capability to analyze historical performance.

Operators can view these key performance metrics of their

microgrid as a whole and individually by DER.

Net

Con

sum

ptio

n Day-Ahead ForecastUpdated ForecastActual Load

12am 3am 6am 9am 3pm12pm 6pm 9pm

Current Time

Dynamic Forecasting

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Distributed Energy Resources and Equipment Solar Energy

Solar is the foundational component for providing clean and

affordable energy. GridLogic uses solar as the primary source

of energy. SolarCity is the nation’s leading full-service solar

energy provider and has deployed over 756MW of solar capacity

throughout the United States and Puerto Rico with over 190,000

customers. SolarCity has developed a fully-integrated, customized

and in-house offering that deliver quality services at affordable

prices. Each solar energy system is equipped with smart inverter

functionality that responds to meet the needs of the microgrid.

Battery Storage

Battery storage is a key component of a clean and resilient grid.

The battery will store energy during periods of excess generation,

provide energy when demand exceeds generation, and help to

minimize local utility demand and energy costs. SolarCity has

deployed both large scale and small scale storage systems that

work in concert with all other resources available on the microgrid.

SolarCity uses Tesla Motors’ lithium-ion battery system, the most

advanced battery technology, which has the highest safety and

quality standards on the market. The batteries have proven capable

of performing through all weather conditions.

Dynamic Load Management

GridLogic provides the opportunity to balance your microgrid load

and optimize your costs by managing the non-critical consumption

from homes and appliances. Using the industry adopted OpenADR

standard, SolarCity offers a highly scalable solution that works

with a small and large number of participating loads. The best

candidates in residential homes for dynamic load management

include HVAC systems, electric water heaters and pool pumps.

Conventional Generation

GridLogic integrates any type of conventional generation,

combustion turbine or backup generator, to optimize its operation in

coordination with the other resources connected to the microgrid.

Power Electronics

SolarCity deploys smart inverters and a power control system

to efficiently manage voltage and frequency using two-way

communication and control capabilities. During grid failure events,

automated switches enable islanding capability to ensure that

continuous power is provided to critical facilities.

Gateways and Meters

SolarCity provides a full set of revenue-grade metering equipment

and real-time communication for DERs and load using PowerGuide.

These solutions ensure data accurate up to 99.8% of actual and

also enable the real-time monitoring of all DERs.

Local Autonomous Control of Distributed Energy Resources

Gross Load Net Load

Solar Battery Load

Coordinator

DistributedIntelligence

Distributed intelligence algorithms will optimize resources locally to maintain a net load schedule.

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Billing and Engagement

SolarCity gives you the tools to fully manage pricing, billing and engagement for the participants of your microgrid.

Customizable Rate Structures

SolarCity provides the tools for you to create customized pricing plans for

participants of your microgrid. With customized pricing, you can provide

incentives that infl uence consumption behavior that aligns with the costs of

energy.

Billing Services

SolarCity provides the full set of billing, payment processing, collections and

reporting services to provide you with a seamless experience in managing your

microgrid. Your residents can access their account information and pay bills

24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As the microgrid operator, you have the ability

to view transactions by participant and run billing and collection reports on

demand.

Engagement Tools

SolarCity provides the full set of web and mobile tools to engage and

empower the participants of your microgrid so they can see a powerful view

of their historical and real-time consumption, as well as the generation from

their DERs. They can view their consumption over daily, monthly and yearly

timeframes to compare how their energy habits change.

Scalable Architecture

Communications Platform

GridLogic is equipped with a fl exible and robust communications

platform that monitors and manages all DERs in your community

microgrid. The platform is designed to be lightweight and secure

to ensure reliable communication links to all DERs, monitoring

and control equipment. Communications are maintained though a

combination of wired and wireless telecommunications links.

Dynamic Control Algorithms

GridLogic’s foundation is built upon dynamic control algorithms that

seamlessly monitor, optimize, and control your portfolio of microgrid

DERs. Each DER is monitored and controlled locally using distributed

intelligence, yet and centrally coordinated through GridLogic’s

systemwide optimization engine. The control algorithms utilize real-

time monitoring data and dynamic DER and load forecasts along with

grid parameters and constraints to deliver dependable electric service.

Distributed Energy Resources

GridLogic integrates a diverse portfolio of DERs, including renewable

generation assets (i.e. solar, wind), conventional generation (i.e.

fossil generators, combined heat and power, and microturbines),

controllable loads, and the utility grid to meet your community’s

energy needs. Our solution dynamically forecasts and controls these

re-sources to maximize your energy savings both while connected to

the utility grid and when operating in islanded mode.

Rate Plan Pricing Editor

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Design Considerations SolarCity’s in-house experts will work with you to develop a tailored solution using our Microgrid Design Tool. This tool uses your historic consumption, location-specific parameters and capabilities of your existing assets to design your microgrid and create an optimized portfolio of DERs to meet your community’s objectives.

Pre-Existing Generation Utilization

If you have existing local generation assets, i.e. solar or generators,

SolarCity will work with you to model and utilize the capabilities of

those assets into the design and select a complementary portfolio

to existing assets. The control system will optimize and coordinate

the operation of those assets along with other resources to

maximize your savings.

Backup Power Duration

GridLogic is designed to ensure that your critical facilities continue

to remain powered under a variety of grid failure conditions.

The control system can be easily configured to maximize backup

power at all times or in preparation for severe weather events.

Maximize Renewable Energy

If you’re in a remote community, you may find it expensive to

import fuel to your region and may wish to operate fully on

renewable energy. We can design and operate GridLogic to

maximize the utilization of the renewable energy generated at

the site of the microgrid.

Existing Energy and Utility Costs

Whether your community or campus is located in an isolated

region or in a metropolitan area, you can continue to leverage

the benefits of your utility’s grid. GridLogic includes a powerful

optimization engine that maximizes the savings from all DERs and

the utility grid. The system forecasts DER production and uses the

utility’s rates to ensure that the system is operated in an efficient

and affordable manner.

Microgrid Design Tool

SolarCity’s in-house teams will enter energy profiles and preferences into our Microgrid Design Tool to create an optimized energy portfolio.

PV

Battery Charged(from PV)

BackupGen Load

GridPower

MicroGrid Design ToolLoad

System

Existing Resources

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Typical Applications

Municipalities with Critical Backup Needs

We know that one of the greatest challenges you face is managing

energy costs while ensuring that critical facilities remain powered

during emergencies and catastrophic events. With the frequency

of major storms such as Hurricane Sandy increasing, we recognize

that ensuring critical facilities remain powered during catastrophic

events is a key priority for municipal energy managers.

GridLogic ensures the resiliency of these facilities during such

events. Facilities can include those that are municipal-owned (i.e.

Fire, Police, Emergency Ops Centers) and those that are non-

municipal-owned (i.e. Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, etc.), while

providing energy cost savings year-round by utilizing the same

assets to manage day-to-day energy costs.

Remote Communities

We understand that remote communities face the challenges of

high costs of energy along with lack of resiliency during severe

weather events. The costs of energy are driven by volatility in fuel

costs and transportation costs. Managing the total costs of energy

in a clean and reliable way is a priority for remote communities.

GridLogic helps remote communities by integrating clean sources

of energy with batteries, conventional generation and dynamic load

to optimize overall operations. Our solution helps lower the costs of

energy, while providing resiliency during severe weather events.

Microgrid Island Mode

Typical SolarCity microgrid architecture for municipalities with critical backup power needs.

Transmission(optional)

Battery Storage

Ground Mount Solar

Backup Generator

Generation is allocated to emergency services. Discretional energy use is limited.

Messaging System

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Contact Us

To learn more about GridLogic and the solution that is right for you, call us at 877.695.7652 or fill in the form at solarcity.com/gridlogic.

SolarCityMicrogrid-as-a-Service Solutions444 De Haro St, Suite 101 San Francisco, CA 94107

Tel: 877.695.7652 solarcity.com/gridlogic

© Copyright 2015, SolarCity. Specifications are subject to change without notice. All rights reserved. Gridlogic is a trademark of SolarCity.