PHONE
210-458-6702
Mission
The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute develops citizen leaders for the global community
committed to transform the energy future of San Antonio, Texas and the nation through discovery,
innovation and stewardship coupled with pragmatic implementation that promotes socioeconomic
prosperity regionally, nationally and globally.
Vision
The Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute will profoundly
impact the energy future of San Antonio, Texas and the nation.
The Institute will integrate scientific discovery, engineering
innovation and policy with pragmatic implementation and a
commitment to our multicultural traditions to realize the promise of
tomorrow's America as a global energy leader.
The Institute will serve as a center of intellectual creativity that
promotes socioeconomic development by providing systems
solutions that pursue novel opportunities for technology insertion
to reduce costs, improve reliability and assure responsible
environmental stewardship that contributes to our energy future.
Our impact will drive San Antonio's economic future, coalesce our
intellectual capital, serve as a magnet for thought leaders from
around the nation and the globe and secure a foundation for
enhanced prosperity for south Texas and the country.
UTSA Agreement
Signed on 9/22/10
First installment of $500,000 received by UTSA on 10/5/10
Second installment of $500,000 was scheduled for May 2011, but
it should be received by 9/15/11.
In addition to providing a broad scope of work for the Strategic
Alliance effort, the agreement has served as the basis for securing
$ 1.2 million in external funding that supports Energy Alliance
research themes (i.e., San Antonio Clean energy Incubator and
solar PV deployment for test bed). Multiple proposals have been
submitted to leverage initial installment to pursue research related
to Energy Alliance.
Dr. Lloyd Potter – Principal Investigator, Demography and
Organization Studies Department
Dr. Jerome Keating, Management Science and Statistics
Department
Dr. David Johnsen, Marketing Deparment
Dr. Stephanie Cano, Management Science and Statistics
Department
Budget: $
Deliverables


3-5 papers to be published in peer-reviewed journals as a
result of this research
Collaboration with EPRI and NREL on complementary
efforts underway.
UTSA Assessment - 50% complete as of 7/31/11
Smart, Secure and Distributed Grid
The objective of this research is to develop a distributed
generation test bed that incorporates capacities of UTSA campus
green grid and defines a strategy for evaluating various
technologies, capabilities and environments for plausible future
CPS Energy distribution systems.
Team:
Dr. Mo Jamshidi – Principal Investigator, Electrical Engineering
Department
Dr. Hariharan Krishnaswami, Electrical Engineering Department
Dr. Brian Kelly, Electrical Engineering Department
Dr. Ram Krishnan, Electrical Engineering Department
Budget: $
Goals
Deliverables
The Institute is conducting research in the following five areas:
8 papers under preparation for submission to technical journals






Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Renewable Energy Technology and Storage (Smart,
Secure and Distributed Grid & Large Scale Penetration of
Photovoltaic)
Sustainability Education and Outreach Program &
Augmented Reality
Carbon Capture, Storage, Sequestration and
Reutilization
Energy/Water Nexus
Electrification of the Transportation Sector
Energy Efficiency and Conservation
The objectives of this research are understand energy
consumption data, demographic data and consumer behavior to
develop models that will accurately represent different groups of
customers within the CPS Energy service areas. Such models will
allow researchers to develop targeted campaigns to promote
energy efficiency and conservation in the San Antonio area.
Team:
UTSA Assessment - 60% complete as of July31, 2011
Carbon Capture, Storage, Sequestration and Reutilization
The objective of this project is to develop a roadmap that
contributes to the long-term carbon strategy for CPS Energy
generation assets, identifying explicit technologies and capabilities
that are uniquely relevant for demonstration at CPS Energy
facilities.
Team:
Dr. Les Shephard – Principal Investigator, Texas Sustainable
Energy Research Institute
Dr. Juan Gomez - Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute
Budget: $
Deliverables
1-2 papers to be submitted to peer-reviewed journals by 5/31/12
UTSA Assessment - 50% complete as of 7/31/11
Sustainability Education and Outreach Program
The objective of this research is to identify key elements of a
sustainability education program targeting “K through 12”
levels that can be broadly deployed to enhance understanding
of sustainability as well as energy generation, consumption,
efficiency and conservation across the CPS Energy service
area.
Team:
Dr. Christine Moseley – Principal Investigator, Interdisciplinary
Learning and Teaching Department
Budget $
Deliverables
White paper summarizing the findings of the research.
UTSA Assessment - 40% complete as of 7/31/11
Augmented Reality – Sustainability Education
The objective of this research is to develop a smart phone type
of technology application to demonstrate the concept of
“Passive Solar Energy” at the high school level.
Team:
Dr. Carmen Fies – Principal Investigator, Interdisciplinary
Learning and Teaching Department
Dr. John Quarles, Computer Science Department
Budget: $
Deliverables
1-2 papers to be submitted to peer-reviewed journals
UTSA Assessment - 75% complete as of 7/31/11
Second Amendment to the Collaboration Agreement
Signed on 1/31/11
Installment for second amendment of $500,000 received by
UTSA on 1/31/11 and allocated to the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) to begin work in August of 2011.
The objective of this amendment is to initiate work in Electric
Transportation, Solar Energy Assessments and energy
efficiency modeling which had not been addressed in the Year
1 work plan of the Agreement.
Achievements to Date:


MOU negotiated between NREL and UTSA that
defines initial strategic working relationship.
Negotiations on multi party Cooperative Research
and Development Agreement (CRADA) between
CPS, NREL and UTSA are underway.
Deliverables
To be determined in the next 30 days.
Work to Date: Workshop held with constituents from across
San Antonio and Texas to understand key challenges and
ongoing work associated with electrification of the transportation
sector.
UTSA assessment – 10% complete as of 8/15/11
Solar Energy Assessment
The objective of this research is to address the following areas
including 1) performance evaluations of current solar
deployment within the CPS Energy service area, 2) smart grid
demand response design to address intermittency, 3) circuit
reliability analysis for the Blue Wing Solar farm, 4) energy
storage evaluation (technology and economics), and 5)
innovative forecasting methodologies.
Work to Date: Work plan is in place to assess large-scale
deployment of PV into the grid. Work being led by NREL with
UTSA and CPS involvement. Funding has now been allocated
to NREL to initiate work.
Team:
NREL Staff
UTSA Faculty from Electrical Engineering Department
Budget: $
Deliverables
To be determine in the final scope of work.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency work plan has now been defined and funded
to support NREL efforts to build on energy efficiency work being
conducted by UTSA. Work will utilize BEOPT modeling
capability to assess optimal investments for retrofits of existing
residential and commercial buildings.
Final deliverables under second amendment due by 1/31/2012
– to be modified based on negotiated work plan with NREL
Team:
NREL Staff
UTSA Faculty from College of Architecture and Demography
and Organization Studies Department
Budget: $
Deliverables
To be determine in the final scope of work.
Electric Transportation
San Antonio Clean Energy Incubator (SACEI)
The objective of this research is to address the following
areas: 1) early adopter segmentation, 2) technology standards
for vehicle charging, 3) utility tariff design for electric vehicles,
4) public charging infrastructure location selection criteria and
guidelines, 5) municipal rules, regulations and policies for
electric vehicles, and 6) incentive design and value proposition
assessment for promoting and enabling electric vehicle
adoption.
The incubator was created through a grant from the State
Energy Conservation Office (SECO). The objective of the
incubator is to promote clean technology and aid aspiring
entrepreneurs to move their ideas from the prototype and
concept development stages to commercialization.
Team:
Dr. Joe Redfield – Principal Investigator, SwRI
Shuo Wang – co-Principal Investigator
Other team members to be determined in the next 30 days
Budget: $
Team:
Andrew Trickett – Director
Sanjuanita Mendez – Administrative Assistant
Budget: $
Deliverables
Help five (5) companies go to commercialization over the next
two years.