Virtual Trainings offered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Plants program are the online version of the multi-day workshops known as In-Plant Trainings (INPLTs). As with in-person Trainings, the VTs help attendees identify energy conservation opportunities, quantify savings from those opportunities, and implement projects to realize the cost savings.
These training workshops enhance the attendees’ understanding of working principles, knowledge of best practices, and capability of analyzing the energy performance of industrial energy systems. As of now, DOE has hosted 31 virtual trainings with more than 2,200 participants and over $11M energy savings opportunities have been identified.
The Better Plants program will deliver a VT on Onsite Energy Generation and Storage from June 3 to July 8, 2025. The Onsite Energy includes an introduction to the Onsite TAPs, status of renewable energy market, energy benchmarking and baselines, benefits of deploying renewable energy, etc. The Onsite Energy VT will be performed by a renewable energy generation expert and Technical Account Managers using online video communication technologies. The VT is comprised of 2-hour online training sessions (1.5-hours formal training and optional 0.5-hour Q&A) that will be delivered every Tuesday 10:00AM – 12:00PM ET for six (6) consecutive weeks. Participating in this VT is free and open to all the Better Plants program partners.
Participants will be trained in Onsite Energy Generation and Storage fundamentals, including virtual hands-on training on the ReOpt Lite and SAM software tools. To maximize the benefits from attending VTs, homework assignments will be given to the participants at the end of each session and will be due by the next session. These homework assignments are designed to enhance participants’ understanding of Onsite Energy Generation and Storage principles. During the last session of the VT, participants are expected to create a summary presentation based on their assessment, present their findings, and share the scrubbed version with DOE.
At the completion of the VT, Professional Development Hours (PDHs) Certificates will be prepared for the attendees on demand basis. Participants are expected to collect measurements/data from their own onsite energy equipment, perform an assessment, and identify energy efficiency opportunities with help from the instructors. To collect the assessment data, in some cases, diagnostic equipment can be arranged and shipped to the partners. The Better Plants diagnostic equipment is available on a first come, first serve basis.
June 3 to July 8, 2025; Every Tuesday, 10:00AM–12:00PM ET (1.5-hour formal training + optional 0.5-hour Q&A)
Week 1 – Introduction to Onsite Energy; June 3, 2025 (Tuesday)
- Introduction to the Onsite TAPs
- Importance of onsite energy generation for manufacturing sector
- Status of renewable energy market
Week 2 – Exploring Onsite Energy for your Facility; June 10, 2025 (Tuesday)
- Benefits of deploying onsite energy
- Introduction to renewable energy technologies: Solar, Wind, and Battery Electric Storage
Week 3 – Evaluating A Onsite Energy System; June 17, 2025 (Tuesday)
- Preview software tools like: ReOpt Lite and SAM
- Using REopt for energy decision analysis
- System Advisor Model (SAM): Learn how to evaluate a renewable energy system technically and economically by using a software tool called System Advisor Model (SAM).
Week 4 – Onsite Energy Success Stories and Overview of Geothermal Systems; June 24, 2025 (Tuesday)
- Role of geothermal in onsite energy
- Case Studies and Successful Onsite Energy Projects
Week 5 – Overview of CHP, Onsite Biomass, and SMRs; July 1, 2025 (Tuesday)
- Fundamentals of CHP: Overview, implementation considerations and business case
- Biomass for Onsite Energy
- Introduction to Nuclear Energy and SMRs
Week 6 – Considerations for Onsite Energy and Renewable Energy Supply Options; July 8, 2025 (Tuesday)
- Siting considerations for an onsite energy project
- Contracting and Financing onsite energy projects
- Other renewable supply options
Indraneel Bhandari (Onsite Energy Generation & Storage Virtual INPLT)
Indraneel Bhandari is a Technical Account Manager and R&D Associate Staff Member in the Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research & Analysis (MEERA) group at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) where he supports a variety of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency initiatives including the DOE’s Better Climate Challenge, Better Plants, and Onsite Technical Analysis Program. Indraneel has diverse experience in distributed generation projects and facility energy assessments through several utility and publicly sponsored initiatives. Previously, he worked at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Energy Resources Center where he conducted feasibility analysis for onsite energy technologies for industrial and institutional facilities, evaluated financial and emissions analysis of electric school buses using bidirectional charging equipment, and studied environmental impacts on photovoltaic modules at agrivoltaics facilities. He also worked as an electrical engineer for Mahindra Susten Pvt. Ltd. where he was part of the team responsible for construction, electrical design execution, and interconnection for utility-scale turnkey PV solar power plants. Indraneel holds a Masters of Energy Engineering from the University of Illinois Chicago and a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from India.
