Jul 7, 2024
Small collections of electricity generators, or "microgrids", have long been used in disaster recovery, when network supply falters during b
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Small collections of electricity generators, or "microgrids", have long been used in disaster recovery, when network supply falters during b
The planned systems in Chelsea and Chinatown can detach from the main power grid, giving the communities their own islands of energy while relieving pressure on the wider regional system.
Chelsea and Chinatown are worried about the big picture when it comes to climate change and energy resilience. To address the problems they face, officials and advocates are thinking small.
The two environmental justice communities will soon begin construction of the nation's first cloud-based microgrids. The system's developer believes the building-by-building projects will be more robust, resilient to climate change disasters, and will empower local residents in their energy future.
Microgrids are comprised of batteries and backup diesel generators that are switched on when main power from the electric grid fails. Emergency response engineers call this "islanding," because the mini-systems act as energy islands that keep the lights on during those peak demand hours.
Sunnova Energy is seeking permission from state regulators to develop microgrids for new housing developments that would not be reliant on established electric utilities.
Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:
For more than a century, governments have offered electric utilities a monopoly on selling power to homes and businesses so long as they agreed to serve everybody and subject themselves to regulation.
But as homeowners have begun installing solar panels and batteries, that simple arrangement has become more complicated. That has led to fierce battles between utility companies and relatively young solar businesses that sell and install rooftop systems for use by homes and businesses.
On Thursday, one of the nation’s largest rooftop solar companies, Sunnova Energy, asked the California Public Utilities Commission to let it directly compete with investor-owned utilities to provide electricity to homes in new residential developments as a private “micro-utility” — a business model that is illegal in much of the United States.
The company said it would offer those residents electricity that was up to 20 percent cheaper than the rates charged by investor-owned utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison. If approved by regulators, the micro-utility model, also known as a microgrid, could undermine the growth of those larger utilities by depriving them access to new homes or forcing them to lower their rates to keep that business.
Off-grid setups can also be appealing because once a system is paid off, the cost of operating and maintaining it is often modest and predictable, whereas utility rates can move up sharply. In recent months, electric bills have surged because the war in Ukraine has caused the cost of natural gas to jump. The nationwide average retail electricity rate increased 11 percent in June from a year earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Alaska Solar Power Acts Locally, Models Globally
Alaska's solar power industry could be model for global transition to renewables and microgrids.
"The problem is much more ingrained in the way this company has developed and continues to operate than it is something as simple as just tr
Something I made for Siemens a while ago. It’s about microgrids. AD: David Dörrast
Empowering people at a local level. Read more: https://wef.ch/2p8eRLY
This is actually possible. Right now. In a country where it rains a LOT.
"The new approach could even pave the way for 100 percent self-sufficiency in power, heat, and water."