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Microgrid Keeps the Power Local, Cheap, and Reliable



The jail microgrid is one of the largest and most advanced in the United States. It's the latest example of an emerging smart-grid technology that's providing a cleaner, more reliable, and, in some parts of the country, significantly cheaper alternative to the conventional grid. "In many cases, it has a very nice payback, with our without subsidies," says Michael Clark, president of Fort Collins, Colorado-based Encorp, which recently installed the software and equipment needed to manage the jail's microgrid. Microgrids also provide new ways to use solar and wind power. Ordinarily, the intermittent nature of such power sources makes them a challenge for utilities. By integrating them with batteries and other sources of power, they can provide a reliable boost to conventional power supplies to help utilities meet peaks in demand.



At certain times, it makes sense to use the system's ability to temporarily decrease power consumption at the jail for things like the air-conditioning or lighting to create more excess power to sell to the grid.

The first customers for microgrids are businesses and organizations that can't afford even short power outages—such as jails, hospitals, data centers, and military bases—or remote areas that don't have access to the grid. They make economic sense in places such as California, where electricity costs are high and regulations on backup generators are strict. But they could soon make sense in more places as the cost of renewable energy and large-scale batteries decreases, and as advanced controls and power electronics make them more efficient. (See "New Solar Panel Designs Make Installation Cheaper," "GE's Novel Battery to Bolster the Grid," and "Battery to Take on Diesel and Natural Gas.")

This article originally published at MIT Technology Review here

MIT Technology Review


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