Author: Alexander Boom

7 adults and 2 young girls eating fruit and drinking soda on the front porch of a farmhouse in Uganda on a Sunny afternoon.

Ugandan energy independence

By Alexander Boom

On May 12, 2023

In Across The Globe

Ugandan energy independence is growing rapidly as each day more Ugandans generate their own electricity.

Ugandan energy independence unlocks education

“These kids need an education.”

It was the most serious Ben had been all day. I was overcome by a wave of admiration for his passion and determination.

Ben Male walking down the path in front of his solar-powered gaming center in Kiwangula, Uganda — Ben Male in front of his gaming center in Kiwangula. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Ben and I met in 2007 when I first came to Kampala, Uganda. I spent a month in Uganda’s Mulago Hospital, photo-documenting the medical trials seeking to create more effective treatments for patients suffering from multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis. Ben was an archivist in the research center’s medical records.

We met during my first week there and quickly became friends. Ben would pick me up on a borrowed motorcycle each weekend, and we’d go on excursions around Kampala and the surrounding countryside. Since then, our friendship has continued through WhatsApp messages, photos, and videos.

On a few occasions, Ben has shared the struggles so many Ugandans face in finding employment and a steady income. It’s a real challenge, even for those who speak numerous languages and have graduated from prestigious universities. It’s a frustrating reality but not a surprise. The job market in Uganda has long struggled to keep pace with the demand from its hardworking, well-educated, talented, and young population.

Ben’s new venture

16 years later, I was with Ben again and in Uganda, this time to understand and document how solar microgrids were generating Ugandan energy independence and transforming lives.

In 2021, Ben decided to set up gaming centers with slot machines in off-grid towns outside Kampala to cover his children’s school fees. But before he could open them, he had a major roadblock hurdle – how to electrify the facilities without grid electricity.

He decided that a solar microgrid would work. We discussed the plan and arranged a no-interest loan to finance the solar microgrid purchases, which could then be repaid with the gaming centers’ earnings.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally had the chance to travel to Uganda and visit Ben. We spent a day together, introducing our families and visiting the gaming centers that are now generating a steady income.

The battery and inverter power the slot machines. Video by Alexander Boom.

4 young men, a young lady, and Alexander Boom taking a selfie in front of a gaming center in the town of Nakabululu. — Selfie with Nakabululu’s gamers.

It was inspiring to see 2 simple solar microgrids propel his 7 children’s growth and education. Ben is now constructing a 3rd larger facility with slot machines, pool tables, and a bar. His goal is to eventually run 10 centers in nearby towns.

Ben is a particularly resourceful and determined person, but businesses’ inability to access the electric grid is common in Uganda.

This begs the questions: How does electricity access impact Ugandan life? And, what’s being done to foster Ugandan energy independence?

The state of Ugandan energy

In the summer of 2019, while working out of SunPower’s office on the San Francisco Bay, our Green Team hosted a lunch & learn on Ugandan electrification. The guest host had founded a non-profit that financed Ugandan entrepreneurs electrifying their communities with renewable microgrids. Her presentation struck a chord.

I’d spent the past 5 years deploying solar microgrids in the US to make our electricity cleaner, lower cost, and more reliable. Now I was seeing how solar microgrids could do the same in another country I love, Uganda.

Uganda’s location on the equator makes it a bountiful solar country, drawing many solar microgrid providers to electrify the country.

Ugandans’ energy use

In 2007, I stepped off the plane in Entebbe, Uganda, and was struck by the smell. Air perfumed from the earthy sweetness of wet red clay soil beneath my feet mixed with the acrid smoke wafting by.

Millions of Ugandans burn wood, kerosene, and charcoal each day to illuminate homes and cook dinners.

In the 1980s, biomass, primarily wood and charcoal, provided 95% of Uganda’s energy.

In 2002, 8% of households had electric lighting.

Today, less than 20% of Ugandans can access the national electric grid, and nearly 3 in 5 Ugandans don’t have electricity at home.

Ugandans use 215kWh of electricity per capita annually, enough to power a 200W fridge-freezer for about a month. That’s half as much as their Sub-Saharan neighbors.

The government’s goal is 100% electrification by 2030, which means another 30 million Ugandans must be electrified in less than a decade.

The state of the Ugandan energy grid

Formed in 2004, Umeme, the government-owned utility company, distributes 97% of the country’s grid electricity. Each month, 1,000 new homes and businesses connect to its grid. Unfortunately, that’s only a fraction of the interconnections needed to electrify a large percentage of the population. Rural and remote areas wait an especially long time for the grid to reach them, as the infrastructure costs are higher than in major cities. Those lucky enough to have grid electricity still deal with frequent power outages.

Umeme blackouts have often lasted weeks to months. In 2006, Lake Victoria’s water levels dropped abruptly, reducing the amount of hydro-generated electricity available, creating an energy crisis and rolling blackouts across the country.

Prolonged blackouts often lead to disruption and unrest. A demonstration over power outages in the town of Gulu resulted in a protestor being shot in the butt in front of the Umeme office.

A few weeks ago, I sat in a dark restaurant as staff scrambled to keep customers in their seats during a surprise power outage. And almost every hospital and sophisticated facility I passed has massive backup diesel generators to ensure that the lights stay on.

Fenced in diesel generator in a field next to Mulago hospital to ensure hospital operations are uninterrupted during grid outages. — A Ugandan gas station’s back-up generator. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Ugandan clean energy generation

Uganda has been an excellent steward of the natural world. Its numerous national parks protect vast spans of land and diverse habitats, and renewable resources provide almost all of the grid’s electricity.

Ugandan energy’s greenhouse gas emissions are 1.39 tons of carbon dioxide per person. One of the lowest in the world. Sure, that’s in part due to the undesirable state of many Ugandans not having electricity. Still, the sources that supply on—and off-grid electricity play significant and positive roles. Nearly 85% of the country’s electricity comes from hydro and solar.

Chart of Uganda's energy sources by % as of March 2022. Hydro provides 79.7%, Bagasse Co-generation 8.2%, Heavy Fuel Oil 7.5%, Solar 4.6%. — Source: Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Authority.

What’s driving Ugandan energy independence

Electricity access empowers the people and communities it reaches. It’s even more empowering when they control the electricity generation and distribution. That’s why so many people across the globe now use renewable microgrids to store energy and produce electricity. By creating local energy independence, they’re leapfrogging the governments and utility companies who control centralized grids’ reach and access points.

Today, Ugandans are using solar panels and solar microgrids to access electricity, improve safety, avoid power outages, and lower energy bills.

Metal-roofed brick store with a solar panel on top in the Ugandan countryside under a blue sky. A man with a motorcycle pulled up front while a girl sits in the store's front porch. — Solar-powered store in the Ugandan countryside. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Evolving energy sources

Uganda uses less electricity than most of the world and its neighbors. Biomass and biofuels, like charcoal, wood, and kerosene, are the country’s most commonly used energy sources.

Burning biomass and biofuels for power has many downsides…

The smoke damages the eyes, lungs, and hearts.

Accessing the energy leads to deforestation, landslides, and pollution.

Transporting and purchasing the fuel has high opportunity and financial costs.

The low light they produce makes studying and reading at night challenging.

No electricity is produced, so electronics can’t be powered.

When reliable electricity is secured, health outcomes improve, equity spreads, and new opportunities arise. Electricity powers life-changing health care, social engagement, information dissemination, entrepreneurial endeavors, and employment.

Leapfrogging into power

The desire for electricity is driving Ugandans to buy, sell, and build solar systems and solar microgrids, leapfrogging them into electrified homes and communities. For decades, Ugandans acquired their own tools and technology to leapfrog over obsolete and prohibitively bureaucratic infrastructure systems

It started with cell phones. Most Ugandans went from having no phone to a cell phone…bypassing the phone lines that never reached them.

Today, it’s happening with electricity access. Many people will go from no in-home grid connection to electrifying their houses with solar panels they own. This evolution in personal energy independence accelerates as individuals see their family and neighbors successfully leapfrog and with the continued improvement of available solar technology and financing.

A man and a woman walk up a dirt path to a home surrounded by plants with a group of people talking on the front porch. — Walking up to Ben’s business partner’s solar-powered off-grid house. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Protecting women and children

Tragically, many women in Uganda are sexually assaulted while traveling to collect water or firewood. The rate of sexual assault in Uganda is high, especially in refugee camps.

Lights powered by solar panels have proved effective in reducing these attacks. Portable electric lanterns charged by solar panels illuminate walks in the bush. Many rural communities and refugee camps now have solar-powered streetlights that shine on small roads and walkways. Homes that used to be shrouded in darkness at night now have solar microgrid-powered lights and cell phones.

Solar microgrids also support people already affected by sexual assault. Uganda’s Rape Hurts Foundation provides a haven for the area’s homeless children—many conceived through rape. They’ve partnered with the Solar Electric Light Fund to build solar streetlights and a water pump in the center of town, as well as solar stoves and a 6kW solar microgrid for the foundation’s facility.

These simple tools greatly improve community safety, particularly for women and children.

Economic opportunity

Ugandan society is still working to develop an economy that broadly generates the desired entrepreneurial and professional opportunities. Over 70% of working-age Ugandans are unemployed.

Reliable electricity and roads are pillars for any country to build a robust economy and job market. The government is certainly capable of executing the needed infrastructure – Uganda’s wireless internet network is excellent. Yet advancements in energy and transportation networks have been slow.

Traditionally, businesses have needed to rely on diesel generators to ensure the lights stay on. This comes at a high operating cost—the fuel and repairs are expensive. Creating an unnecessary financial strain on the industry and slowing Uganda’s overall economic growth. Buying diesel is beyond their means for some businesses, so the grid’s reliability limits dictate their operating hours and potential earnings.

To address these challenges, the government is investing in expanding Umeme’s coverage territory, mandating that the Ministry of Energy and Minerals work with the private sector to develop microgrids.

However, many business owners and real estate developers have decided to pursue electrification independently by powering their facilities with solar panels and private microgrids, such as Akright, a housing development outside of Kampala. By securing their electrification, these businesses ensure uninterrupted operations, attract more customers, hire more people, and grow Uganda’s economy.

Lowering energy bills

All of our bio and fossil fuels get their energy from the sun. When we go directly to the source, using solar panels to our lives with solar rays, we’re able to power our lives more efficiently and cost-effectively.

That’s why many Ugandans are trading in gas and diesel generators for solar panels and solar microgrids. Across Uganda, bill-crunchers and money-makers use the sun’s rays to lower the costs of electrifying their homes and businesses.

Yet, the cost of solar panels still prevents many Ugandan households from accessing the overall savings that they unlock.

My wife and I spent a few days driving around Uganda’s capital, Kampala, with Phillip Kabaikaramu, the founder of the travel company Neza Expeditions. Phillip is in his late 20s and a cosmopolitan member of the growing professional class. He only knows a few people who have solar systems powering their homes in Kampala.

Buying a solar system to power a whole home is prohibitively expensive for many middle-class families. Even though a solar system pays for itself over the years and ultimately can save lots of money over its lifetime, he told us that the upfront investment prevented most people he knows from being able to afford enough panels to provide the power they desire for their home.

Clean energy technologies, like solar panels, become cheaper every year. With time, larger solar systems will be accessible to a broader spectrum of Ugandans. More accessible credit for solar systems financing and solar panels with longer warranties will increase the rate of Ugandan energy independence and its associated benefits. In the meantime, many Ugandans will continue using panels to offset energy from other sources where there’s a quick return on investment.

How to choose a renewable microgrid in Uganda

When choosing a renewable microgrid, we need to first ask ourselves: What will we use it for? And what type will work best in my location?

In Uganda, the 2nd question is easy to answer.

Solar panels are the most affordable, accessible, and effective way to power a renewable microgrid in most parts of Uganda.

Why?

Uganda’s equatorial position provides abundant sunshine for consistent daylight hours year-round, providing a solar energy potential of 5.1 kWh/m².
The price of solar panels has consistently fallen for the past decade. Making the technology abundantly available and increasingly affordable for a wide range of uses.
Solar panels are already a widely known and accepted technology – they power homes, businesses, facilities, and electronics across the country.

To help answer the 1st question, look at how Ugandans use solar microgrids today.

Who’s using solar microgrids in Uganda?

A Ugandan entrepreneur

Crammy Wanyama, the founder of Avian Safaris, is a serial entrepreneur who has grown multiple businesses and is one of Uganda’s most knowledgeable birders.

Crammy Wanyama, wearing an Aviansafaris.com t-shirt, standing on a lookout over Queen Elizabeth National Park savannah on a sunny afternoon. — Crammy Wanyama looks out on Queen Elizabeth National Park. Photo by Alexander Boom.

No matter how well their businesses were run, when COVID hit, bookings evaporated for everyone in the tourism industry. So, in 2021, Crammy decided to start a chicken farm to create jobs and provide a new revenue source while Avian Safaris’ tours were on pause. He opted to install solar panels to electrify the farm’s lights and keep energy costs low.

Today, Avian Safaris again has a steady flow of tours, the chicken farm continues operations, and Crammy is looking to purchase more powerful and durable solar panels to help grow his chicken business.

Modest Ugandan households

Another Wanyama, Jumia Wanyama, has sold solar systems for the past 5 years.

After leaving Mburo Lake National Park, I stopped by his MySol shop in Mbarara. Jumia offers 50-200W solar panels with attached battery packs.

Storefront of MySol in Mbarara, Uganda. There's a tent out front of the store with MySol representatives speaking to potential customers about Ugandan solar energy. — MySol store in Mbarara. Photo by Alexander Boom.

He told me that most solar microgrid purchasers in Mbarara are individuals who start with small solar microgrids that can power a TV or charge a laptop at their homes. Jumia offers his customers pay-as-you-go plans, providing them with enhanced energy independence for a small up-front cost. As his customers pay off the microgrid, they can incrementally increase the solar system’s size and electricity generation to power more and larger electronics.

A caring Ugandan father

Ben Male in front of his gaming center in Kiwangula.

Ben Male, whom we met at the beginning, is the first Ugandan I knew with solar microgrids.

His solar microgrids each have a couple of solar panels that provide several hundred watts of power and store additional energy in lead-acid batteries. They power all of his gaming centers and enabled Ben to open these businesses in off-grid communities while avoiding recurring energy bills.

The power from these solar microgrids has paid for his 5 children’s schooling and are creating new opportunities for his family.

5 people standing in a mud-walled dirt-floored, and an aluminum-roofed room that's under construction. Ben Male is in the room watching his 6-year-old daughter walk in front. — Ben surveys the site of his 3rd gaming center while his daughter walks by. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Where are Ugandans using solar power?

Not even in California, the center of solar energy use in the US, are so many structures powered by solar panels. In every city and town that we passed through, there were advertisements for solar microgrid components everywhere, and at least a couple of stores selling solar panels and batteries.

In Uganda, you find solar microgrids almost everywhere.

Cities

In Kampala and Jinja (Uganda’s action-sports capital), streetlights are powered by solar microgrids. The panels absorb sunlight and store it in batteries or send it to the grid to illuminate the lights in the evening.

Street lamps with 2 large solar panels attached to their tops line a busy road in Kampala, while the midday sun shines down on them. — Solar-powered streetlights line Kampala’s roads. Photo by Alexander Boom.

In Entebbe, where Uganda’s international airport and a United Nations base are located, the hotels lining the shores of Lake Victoria also illuminate their paths and outdoor spaces with solar-powered lights.

Solar-powered lamp used to illuminate a path along Lake Victoria in Entebbe, Uganda. — Solar-powered lamp on the shores of Lake Victoria in Entebbe. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Of all the cities in Uganda, Kampala likely has the most people with electrified homes, and still, many residents live in simple unelectrified mud brick or corrugated aluminum dwellings. Yet, almost everyone has a cell phone. These two realities create a money-making opportunity for people with solar microgrids. In Kampala neighborhoods, it’s common to find businesses selling prepaid cellular minutes and offering cell phone charging from a solar microgrid.

Man using a solar microgrid to charge cellphones and small devices with the most abundant Ugandan energy source, the sun. — Off-grid cell phone charging with a solar microgrid.

Towns and villages

While driving back into Kampala, we passed a business selling biodigesters. Biodigesters use animal or human waste to create fertilizer or biogas. With the proper generator, biogas can be burnt and converted into electricity.

A roadside business selling cement biodigester septic tanks that produce energy. There are three men sitting by the tanks on display while a younger man walks by. — Biodigester on offer in Kampala. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Ben’s solar microgrids are in the towns of Nakabululu and Kiwangulu on the outskirts of Kampala. The 3rd is planned for the more remote Wabusaana.

A handwritten map on notebook paper with the route we'd travel to visit Ben Male's family, gaming centers, and solar microgrids. — Travel route: visiting Ben’s family and his gaming centers. Map by Ben Male.

On excursions with Ben, Philip, and Crammy, we encountered solar systems and solar microgrids powered structures in every town and village.

In the town of Masaka, almost every one of its steep-roofed homes had at least 1. Crammy shared that the roof design isn’t for aesthetics. The steep pitches prevent thieves from easily stealing solar panels.

Kidepo Valley is an arid region with many grass-thatched roofs near Uganda’s northern border with South Sudan. After traveling there, my father excitedly wrote of the off-grid homes that now donned solar panels. More impressively, on a sunny day, he’d spotted a young man walking down a trail powering his devices from the solar panel balanced on his head.

Two thatched roof homes in Kidepo Uganda with their residents (6 women, 5 children, 1 man) standing out front and smiling for the camera. One of the huts is powered by solar energy from the panels on its roof. — Solar-powered home in Kidepo. Photo by Henry Boom.

National parks

Upon entering each Ugandan national park, you check in with a ranger whose station and living quarters are often solar microgrid powered.

Two single-room facilities used by the rangers at Lake Mburo National Park. The facilities are on the edge of the lake, one of the structures has three large solar panels on the roof. — Ranger facilities in Lake Mburo National Park. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Solar panel soaking in sunlight next to a water storage tank and two buildings in Queen Elizabeth National Park. — Queen Elizabeth National Park ranger camp. Photo by Alexander Boom.

2 large solar panels attached to a platform and connected to a thatched roof building. Solar panels are surrounded by a fence. — Queen Elizabeth National Park ranger camp. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Refugee camps

Every country and culture in the world excels in certain ways. One of Uganda’s great strengths is the willingness to accept refugees and give them the opportunity to be productive members of society.

Over the past few decades, conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia have created a refugee crisis in the region. Uganda has accepted 1.5M refugees – more than almost every country on earth. The Refugee Act of 2006 provides refugees in Uganda the freedom of movement, the right to work, and land for settlements.

However, this has led to massive refugee settlements lacking electricity access. Solar microgrids help provide refugees in Uganda with electricity.

BidiBidi

BidiBidi is the 2nd largest refugee camp in the world, with over 270,000 residents. Many of them are Sudanese who fled the civil war and Ugandans forced from their communities by The Lord’s Resistance Army’s rebel group. Aga Great Work Limited has built a community-scale solar microgrid to provide electricity to BidiBidi residents.

Rwamwanja

Rwamwanja is home to over 50,000 refugees, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here, residents can access remote-controlled solar-powered microgrids with no upfront cost and receive a 10% discount on standard pricing.

Providers of energy-independence products in Uganda

Ugandan D.Light solar energy service center in Kampala. — D.light solar service center in Kampala. Photo by Alexander Boom.

The companies below sell clean energy technologies and services in Uganda. Almost the entire county has access to at least one of these providers. Contact them if you’re interested in becoming more energy-independent with your own solar system, battery, or solar microgrid.

D.light
Mkopa
Sun King
Village Power
Fenix International
Power Trust Africa
Aptech
UltraTec
Solar Today
Solar Energy for Africa
Solar Now
Bright Lite
Village Energy
Chloride Exide

Roadside storefront of a Ugandan energy and battery provider Chloride Exide. The shop is on a dirt bank with a pickup truck out front and few people going into the shop. — Chloride Exide shop offering batteries in Uganda. Photo by Alexander Boom.

There are organizations operating in Uganda that give away solar systems, but if you’re able, it’s better to purchase clean energy technologies and services from a business that operates locally and provides affordable and high-quality products. As the purchaser of these products, you have broader opportunities warranty, maintenance, and replacement services. At a macro level, it’s a sustainable way for Ugandans to grow the job market, economy, and energy-independence access.

The range of solar microgrids companies operating in Uganda, many of which are founded by Ugandans, is inspiring. It shows that clean electricity and energy independence present a strong business opportunity in Uganda and are increasingly accessible.

Bringing home Ugandan energy independence

Over 1 billion of us don’t have electricity. That’s 1 in 8 of our global neighbors.

Renewable microgrids now enable us to choose when we want to produce our own electricity. Many Ugandans are taking matters into their own hands by choosing solar microgrids to generate the power they desire. It’s changing lives and fortunes.

We can increase the pace of this evolution by making higher quality solar panels, longer-term warranties on solar microgrid technologies, and credit more accessible in Uganda. As Crammy said to me, Ugandans don’t want to waste money on junk, but they’ll spend it on quality products and services.

Shoot a message to electricislandsblog@gmail.com if you’re interested in being involved in Uganda’s energy independence or have a story to tell.

To learn more about energy independence in your community and around the globe, subscribe to the Electric Islands mailing list.

Clean electricity for all.

Much love,

Alexander Boom

TRAVEL TIPS: Where to book Ugandan tours and safaris

Are you interested in going on wilderness adventures or cultural expeditions in Uganda and East Africa? Contact Avian Safari and Neza Expeditions to plan an amazing trip that will be led by excellent guides:

Avian Safaris

Owner: Crammy Wanyama
Phone #: +256 782 475 961
Email: info@aviansafaris.com

Avian Safaris provides exceptional private tours throughout Uganda and neighboring countries. I recently spent 10 days traveling with my wife, dad, and Crammy through 4 of Uganda’s spectacular national parks. My dad is an avid Birder who’s been working in Uganda for 25 years – for the past 10 years, he’s solely traveled with Avian Safaris for East African adventures.

Adult giraffe standing in a green field surrounded by Acacia trees and a blue sky. — Photo by Alexander Boom.

Woman with an Avian Safari hat seated in a truck above a sleeping lion. — Photo by Alexander Boom.

Avian Safaris provides private tours guided by a select few of Uganda’s most knowledgeable and accomplished birders. In addition to seeing remarkable birds, you’ll experience an array of East Africa’s cultures, national parks, and wildlife.

Neza Expeditions

Owner: Phillip Kabaikaramu
Phone #: +256 700 546064
Email: info@nezaexhibition.com

Neza Expeditions founder Philip Kabaikaramu drove us around while we stayed in Kampala. Philip is an excellent driver who’s lots of fun to spend time with and provides insightful perspectives into the places you visit.

In addition to providing rides and expeditions around Kampala and Entebbe, Neza Expeditions offer a range of travel itineraries to Ugandan national parks.

Phillip of Neza Expeditions with his car and tour guests. — Phillip taking us to a solar microgrid in Wakabululu. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Home powered by a solar microgrid and a tent powered by a portable solar microgrid

What is a solar microgrid?

By Alexander Boom

On April 25, 2023

In Microgrid Types

Solar microgrids are electricity generators created when batteries are connected to solar panels. They turn the sun’s rays into free, clean, on-demand electricity.

These fantastic tools lower energy bills and cut pollution while expanding electricity access in urban, rural, and uninhabited environments.

To get a better sense of how solar microgrids operate, impact, our lives, and compare with other energy options, let’s explore…

What solar microgrids are
How solar microgrids work
How to identify a solar microgrid
Why we choose solar microgrids
Who uses solar micr o grids
Where to get a solar microgrid

What is a solar microgrid?

A solar microgrid is a micro version of the grid that generates electricity from the sun. They’re a type of renewable microgrid because their fuel, sunlight, is renewable and unlimited…at least for the next 5 billion years.

Solar microgrids come in various shapes, sizes, and levels of complexity, but they all have these 3 core components:

Solar panel(s)
Battery(s)
Power control system

The solar panels soak up the sun’s rays and convert the electrons into power you can use. The batteries are the energy reserve. The power control system can enable you to adjust and monitor energy input, electricity output, and the available backup power.

Display of the Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Systems (GREENS), a portable solar microgrid used by the US military. This GREENS has 4 solar panels and 6 battery packs. — Portable solar microgrid used by the US military

People are rapidly using solar microgrids to cut their reliance on large, centralized grids and carbon-based fuels because solar microgrids can provide cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable power.

Solar microgrids are likely already electrifying buildings, transportation, and activities in your community. Across the globe, they power utility companies, hospitals, schools, prisons, businesses, communities, homeowners, travelers, warfighters, and adventurers.

How does a solar microgrid work?

When the sun’s rays hit a solar microgrid’s solar panels, their energy is collected by the panel’s solar cells and converted into useable electricity or saved in the battery as backup power. The solar microgrid’s operator uses its control system to determine when and how the energy is used.

A solar microgrid’s interconnected energy collection, power storage, and electricity generation capabilities create an electric island. Everyone on the electric island gets reliable and essentially unlimited electricity.

We can attach solar microgrids to a broader power grid and then island when desired, or they can permanently operate as fully independent grids. Either way, you get to keep the lights on regardless of what’s happening in the seas surrounding your electric island.

The scale of solar microgrids’ solar systems varies greatly. Some have solar systems that are only a few watts (W), while others are over 20 kilowatts (kW). The smallest microgrids power small electronics, while the largest can ones serve 100s of households, facilities, and small businesses.

Solar microgrids’ electricity generators

An electricity generator fulfills the microgrid’s core function: turning an energy source into electricity you can use. For solar microgrids, the generators are solar panels. Some solar microgrids have multiple generators; primarily generating electricity with solar panels and using wind turbines or diesel generators to provide additional power.

Solar microgrids’ energy reserves

Having an energy reserve enables microgrids to provide on-demand power. Batteries are solar microgrids’ energy reserves. Typically, solar microgrid batteries store energy using a lead-acid or lithium-ion composition.

Solar microgrids’ power controls

Sophisticated microgrids use software to connect and manage the energy reserve and electricity generator. This enables the solar microgrid’s operator to control the energy input, electricity output, and available backup power. Grid-connected solar microgrids’ software can detect disruptions on the grid and island when needed. Portable solar microgrids, like the ones people carry on backpacking trips, often have much simpler power controls—consisting of a few buttons that turn on and off electrical circuits.

Identifying a solar microgrid

Microgrids vs. solar microgrids

Microgrids are tools that independently store energy and generate electricity. Some are interconnected to the grid, and others operate as fully independent electric islands. Regardless, they’re attractive to people, facilities, and communities for their ability to avoid power outages and reduce peak demand or to electrify areas without access to grid energy.

Since their inception in the 1800s, microgrids have generated electricity using diesel and gas-burning engines. Many of these old-school fossil fuel microgrids still operate today, but in the 21st century, savvy operators are upgrading to renewable microgrids powered by clean energy technologies, like solar panels, wind turbines, hydropower, fuel cells, and heat pumps.

Solar microgrids improve upon traditional fossil-fuel-powered microgrids’ capabilities by generating power with solar panels – providing electricity that’s cleaner, cheaper, and free of fuel stockpiles or pipelines. Solar microgrids are the most widely used type of renewable microgrids.

Within a decade, solar microgrids will be the most used microgrids across the globe.

Solar arrays vs. solar microgrids

Solar panels and solar microgrids are great tools for generating power with the sun’s energy. The panels have photovoltaic cells that collect sunlight and convert it into electricity. Multiple interconnected solar panels are called solar arrays. Solar microgrids are local, independent power grids producing electricity with solar panels.

A solar array with an attached battery and power control system is a solar microgrid. Unlike standalone solar panels or arrays, a solar microgrid unlocks 24-hour electricity access by adding battery storage.

Another advantage unique to a solar microgrid is the power management system’s ability to island the microgrid from a centralized grid’s network. In the event of a natural disaster, power outage, or soaring utility prices, a solar microgrid owner can choose to island and continue affordably having uninterrupted power. Non-islanding electricity generators connected to the grid, like a solar array, shut off when the grid goes down so that they don’t put electricity into wires that utility company workers may need to fix.

After Hurricane Sandy battered the Atlantic coast of the US in 2012, many people with solar panels suffered without electricity for weeks, but those with microgrids, like NYU’s campus in New York City, kept their lights on.

Nighttime aerial view of Manhattan in 2014 during Super Storm Sandy showing that all of the buildings in lower Manhattan are unelectrified except for NYUs campus in the Washington Square Park area. — A microgrid powered NYU’s campus during the blackout from Super Storm Sandy.

Why do people choose solar microgrids?

Solar microgrids have many benefits. They offer us reliability, flexibility, sustainability, and savings.

Reliable electricity

People increasingly choose solar microgrids to power their lives to can directly control electricity production and have an energy source that’s more reliable than the local grid.

The grid has always experienced power outages, but they’re becoming more frequent as infrastructure ages and the growing climate crisis makes weather more extreme. Solar microgrids are more reliable because they’re autonomous electric islands. On these islands, you store energy, generate electricity, control when and how you use the power, and tap into an unlimited energy source—the sun.

A solar microgrid can island automatically when it detects disruptions in the grid. Ensuring our energy supply is not interrupted by unexpected power outages.

Community solar microgrids electrify grid-connected and off-grid communities. Grid-connected communities use them to achieve greater energy independence and cost savings, and solar microgrids are often the only way for off-grid communities to electrify.

Adopting solar and other renewable microgrids is essential to evolving our energy use to keep up with the changing times. It’s now possible to enhance convenience and equality of life by cutting the cord with unreliable centralized power grids.

Clean energy

Toxic emissions and pollution from burning fossil fuels are concerning for our health today and preserving a liveable planet for the people being born this year. Fortunately, solar microgrids provide free, reliable, and non-polluting electricity. Cleaner and more efficient power systems are critical to protecting us all.

Producing your own power from a local source is more efficient than purchasing it from utility companies because we avoid the energy loss that comes from sending electricity long distances over transmission lines. Plus, most utility companies generate much of their electricity from burning dirty fossil fuels. Adding insult to injury, we exhaust even more energy transporting the fossil fuels from where they are dug up (or cut down) to where we burn them to create electricity. By using a solar microgrid to replace grid electricity, you’re able to productively use more electricity and avoid producing toxic and weather-changing emissions.

By reducing our carbon footprint today with solar microgrids, we make a positive lasting impact on our bodies, communities, and children.

Low-cost power

Most people want to use more energy and save money on energy bills. The good is getting a solar microgrid will likely lower your energy bills, unlock more useable power, and provide peace of mind.

Renewable microgrids produce free electricity by collecting available energy from natural local sources and converting it into electricity. Once you purchase the solar microgrid equipment, the electricity will remain free for as long as our sun is.

A solar microgrid connected to the grid assures predictable, affordable energy bills by limiting your susceptibility to volatile fossil fuel prices and utility companies’ increasing charges. Just island, or better yet, sell your stored excess energy when energy prices are high. You can always switch back to grid power during the utility company’s low-price periods.

Recently, Electric Islands examined how much money a solar microgrid can save homeowners in US states each year, discovering that households in many states save $100s to $1000s annually. Those savings will likely increase yearly due to the steady price decreases for solar microgrid technologies and the increasing cost of grid electricity.

The Clean Coalition’s Community Microgrid Initiative has set out to prove that solar microgrids can provide at least 25% of Puerto Rico’s consumed electricity while maintaining grid reliability and power quality by 2025. This initiative occurred after 2017’s Hurricane Maria knocked out the island’s grid and electricity for months. One of these solar microgrids is in Yabucoa and has provided a lifeline for the town during subsequent grid outages. The microgrid has provided residents with a clean, reliable energy system serving people’s basic needs during outages while generating free electricity.

Solar microgrids reduce air pollution, produce electricity locally, create local jobs, and lower energy bills. Investing in them and other local renewable energy sources secures our energy independence and ensures that your community has reliable, clean, and affordable electricity.

Who uses a solar microgrid?

We use solar microgrids for many reasons, from powering homes, hospitals, schools, and businesses to running irrigation pumps for agriculture, illuminating streetlights, and electricity on the go. Let’s meet a few of today’s solar microgrid users:

Entrepreneurs powering businesses

In Uganda electricity is in short supply. It’s one of the least electrified countries on the planet.

Ben Male, an enterprising Ugandan in the Kampala area, faced a severe dilemma a few years back. He needed money to cover the school fees for seven children, but nearby job opportunities were minimal and low-paid, and his earnings from farming and brick-making weren’t enough to cover the schooling for all of the children.

So, he devised a plan to open gaming centers in nearby off-grid communities. But first, he needed a way to power the centers.

His solution? Set up a solar microgrid at each center powered by a 200-watt solar panel.

Today, he operates 2 gaming centers, is constructing a larger 3rd center with a pool table and bar, and, most importantly, has funds for schooling. Ben’s goal is to eventually run 10 solar microgrid-powered locations.

Facilities keeping the lights on

Facilities of all types are using solar microgrids to ensure operations are uninterrupted.

In 2019, the Shatz Energy Research Center doubled the Blue Lake Rancheria’s solar microgrid battery capacity to 1150kW/1950kWh, serving tribal lands in California’s Humbolt Bay.

Aerial view of the Blue Lake Rancheria solar microgrid's 420kW solar array next to a pond and large facility. — Blue Lake Rancheria’s solar microgrid.

The timing was fortuitous. That fall, the local utility company shut off its nearby powerlines to prevent sparking a wildfire, leaving the microgrid to be the sole power source for the area. Its electricity powered the United Indian Health Services, allowing them to keep critical medications refrigerated and save 8 lives. The health center also provided a place for locals to charge their cell phones to follow news updates and inform families.

Homeowners wanting peace of mind

Homeowners across the globe are opting to power their houses with solar microgrids. Freeing themselves from the worries of high electric bills, power outages, and creating air pollution.

John Rettinger, also known as the TechnoBuffalo, has a house in California with a Tesla solar microgrid. John’s solar panels power the home in the morning and charge his EVs’ batteries. At noon, he stops receiving the energy and begins selling it to his utility company, Southern California Edison (SCE). In the evening, he switches back to using solar before the sun sets and then transitions to battery power.

Watch this video to see how having a solar microgrid has changed John’s life.

People on the move

There are portable versions of solar microgrids. Enabling us to create an electric island wherever life takes us.

It’s key for Backcountry-ers like entrepreneur and ecologist Lindsey Davis, to keep her tools and communication devices powered during long off-grid adventures. According to Lindsey, “You never know when you’re going to have to set up camp. By having a way to generate my own power, I’ve found it allows me to stay out longer and truly have a ‘base camp’ I can rely on.”

Portrait of Lindsey Davis in a snow landscape. Lindsey is an entrepreneur and ecologist who uses renewable microgrids to power her off-grid adventures. Source: Goal Zero.

Where to get a solar microgrid

So now you’re likely asking yourself, how do I get a solar microgrid? The good news is there’s likely a supplier in your area who can sell or lease one to you, but which supplier is the best option will depend on your location and how you plan to use the microgrid.

First, decide if you want the solar microgrid to be portable, power a home, service a business or facility, or electrify a whole community. Then check out the suppliers below to see if they service your area or if your local suppliers offer similar products and services.

Portable solar microgrid

LuminAID and Goal Zero sell portable solar microgrids that are perfect for your backpack, vehicle, or apartment. They range in price from $50-$2.5K. Both companies make high-quality products that I can recommend from personal experience. But if you’re on a tight budget, you can likely find other brands offering reliable portable solar microgrids at a lower price point.

Home solar microgrids

Home solar microgrid options vary substantially based on the region and country where you live. Often, you can buy or lease a solar system, battery, and management software from different manufacturers or service providers and combine them to create a solar microgrid, but it’s often easier to set them up and get a better warranty if you procure them from the same source.

Home solar microgrid prices range from as low as a few thousand dollars to over $50K. It all depends on how much energy you need and the brand(s) you choose. There’s a vast range in the quality and service of components, so it’s vital to do your research.

Enphase, Tesla, and Maxeon (known as SunPower in the US) are some of the most well-known solar microgrid brands worldwide. These and many home solar microgrid companies also offer solar microgrids that power businesses or whole communities.

Community solar microgrids

The bigger the microgrid, the more it needs to be customized for the user(s). Many companies, organizations, and governments focus on installing solar microgrids for whole communities to enhance energy independence, access electricity for the first time, and protect themselves from devastating power outages. Check out Clean Coalition, Ilumexico, ENGIE, and the Rocky Mountain Institute to learn how these organizations support community microgrid development.

Microgrid Knowledge is an excellent resource for discovering who is providing community-level microgrids worldwide.

Asking friends, family, or even energy companies servicing your area about local solar microgrid suppliers is a great way to find available options and maybe even get a referral discount. If they can’t point you toward a company that has what you’re looking for, search online.

Asking friends, family, or even the utility company(s) servicing your area about local solar microgrid suppliers is a great way to find available options and get a referral discount. You can also search online to discover more companies and organizations offering what you want.

Diagram of a microgrid with icons representing the utility grid connected to the microgrid, and the microgrid connected to commercial & industrial users, residential users, a gas generator, renewable generators of wind and solar, battery storage, and electric vehicles.

What is a microgrid?

By Alexander Boom

On December 14, 2022

In Microgrid Types

After the sun sets in Yucatán, Mexico, a microgrid powers a boy’s reading light inside of his off-grid home.

In California, the warden of a maximum security prison uses a microgrid to ensure his facilities stay electrified.

Microgrids restored power to Puerto Rican communities reeling from Hurricane Maria’s destruction.

So what are these life-changing microgrids?

What a microgrid is

A microgrid is a tool that independently stores energy and generates electricity.

Microgrids give us power without relying on a massive centralized network of poles, wires, generators, and substations run by utility companies – what we commonly refer to as “the grid“.

A microgrid is a smaller, independent grid that electrifies a specific area, building, or individual.

There are many types of microgrids, but all of them have these 3 core components:

An electricity generator
An energy reserve
A power management system

Combining these 3 components to create a microgrid enables us to power electronics, vehicles, homes, businesses, facilities, and even whole communities. Some microgrids are very simple in construction and use, while others are complex systems.

You may just be discovering that microgrids exist, but they’re likely already powering life all around you. Across the globe, utility companies, hospitals, schools, prisons, communities, warfighters, homeowners, travelers, and adventurers use them.

Why? Should you use a microgrid?

Microgrids capabilities

Microgrids enable us to generate our own electricity, unshackling us from relying on large centralized power grids and stockpiling fuel.

The first microgrid was invented by Thomas Edison in New York City in 1882, but only in the past 10 years have they become widely adopted. That’s because recently distributed energy resources (DERs) are increasingly affordable for communities, businesses, and individuals. We’ve also recognized microgrids’ ability to deliver reliable power while many utility companies struggle to do so. Plus, new software and energy programs unlock money-making opportunities for microgrid owners.

Across the globe, we’re using microgrids to…

Stay safe: Microgrids providing reliable backup power enable us to keep our hospitals, homes, and devices powered even as aging infrastructure and ever more destructive weather lead to more frequent grid outages. After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, the island’s grid was down for months, which tragically created far more death and destruction than the hurricane itself.

Puerto Rican man walking through a street in front of 2 bulldozers, a broken chainlink fence and many powerlines. — Puerto Rican powerlines broken by Hurricane Maria.

Relieve stress: Prolonged blackouts are devastating. We’re left in the dark until the utility company can fix the problem…unless we have a microgrid. Microgrids offer families, doctors, soldiers, and even prison wardens the peace of mind that they won’t be left powerless. At the Santa Rita jail in Dublin, California, they built a microgrid to ensure the jail is always electrified and secure.
Save money: Switching to microgrid power often saves money on energy bills. By locally producing electricity and storing energy, taxpayers avoid the massive costs of building and maintaining power plants and transmission lines. Plus, microgrid owners can make money by selling the electricity and renting their batteries’ extra storage to utility companies. SunPower estimates that their customers with residential microgrids can earn $100-1000/yr.
Live sustainably: Microgrids powered by clean energy technologies, like solar panels, wind turbines, and fuel cells, produce electricity that’s cheaper and cleaner than utility companies’ production from burning fossil fuels. These renewable microgrids cut air pollution and help us fight the climate crisis.
Access electricity: 1 billion of us still don’t have electricity at home. Not so long ago, much of the world’s population also didn’t have a phone at home. Then cell phones arrived, and everything changed. Today, microgrids, particularly solar microgrids, are unlocking electricity access in communities that never had access to the grid.

How microgrids work

Microgrids use the energy from sources like gasoline or sunlight to generate electricity and store backup power. Control of when and how the electricity is generated and energy is stored comes from the microgrid’s power management system.

A diagram of microgrid's potential inputs, outputs, interconnection points and impacting factors. Including solar, batteries, wind, electric vehicles, heatpumps, fossil fuel, power plants, other microgrids, weather, and energy markets. — A microgrid’s potential inputs, outputs, and interconnection points.

The electricity generator

Electricity generation is a microgrid’s core function. The generators can be combustion engines that burn fossil fuels or clean energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, and fuel cells. Regardless of the energy source, they’re designed to reliably provide on-demand power.

The energy reserve

An energy reserve enables microgrids to provide on-demand power. Microgrids store energy in fuel stockpiles, gas tanks, or, commonly, batteries.

The power management

Sophisticated microgrids use software to connect and coordinate the operations of the energy reserve and electricity generator. In doing so, you get control of the microgrid’s energy input, electricity output, and available backup power.

If a microgrid were the human body, then the power management system would be the brain, the reserve is its layer of fat, and the generator is its muscle.

What is not a microgrid

Microgrids require the ability to both generate power and store energy.

So, an electricity generator, like a solar panel, without an energy reserve, like a battery, is not a microgrid. And, an energy reserve without a generator is not a microgrid.

By definition, a microgrid needs to be able to keep the electrons flowing without relying on the grid or external electricity. Rooftop solar panels on a grid-connected home aren’t microgrids because a) they stop producing electricity when the sun sets b) as a safety precaution, they actually stop producing electricity when the grid has an outage.

People are often surprised to learn that solar-powered homes lose power when there’s an outage on the grid. They need to be connected to a home battery to become a microgrid and provide continuous power.

The diversity of microgrids

Microgrids’ uses and users are diverse because microgrids come in so many shapes and sizes. You need to know about the different microgrid configurations to pick one that meets your needs.

Fossil-fuel vs. renewable microgrids

Fossil vs. Renewable.

Dirty vs. Clean.

Traditional vs. Modern.

Dependent vs. Independent.

There are many ways to compare the energy sources our microgrids use.

Since microgrids’ inception, we’ve used diesel and gas-burning engines to generate electricity. Many of these old-school fossil fuel microgrids operate today.

Honda gas generators powering a food stand at a farmer's market in Honolulu, Hawaii. Photo by Alexander Boom. — Gas generators powering a food stand at a farmer’s market in Honolulu, HI. Photo by Alexander Boom.

But we can generate electricity more efficiently, sustainably, and cost-effectively this century with clean energy technologies. Renewable microgrids generate electricity with solar panels, wind turbines, hydropower, fuel cells, and heat pumps, which collect energy from locally abundant natural sources.

A microgrid’s energy storage depends on whether it’s fossil or renewable. Fossil microgrids rely on fuel, which requires a stockpile to secure backup power. Renewable microgrids hold power in batteries recharged by locally abundant clean energy.

It’s common to see hybrid microgrids that can generate electricity from fossil fuel and clean energy resources.

It’s Electric Islands’ mission to unlock energy independence. Renewable microgrids are the only microgrids capable of producing electricity without relying on a pipeline or stockpile to supply fuel, making them self-sufficient and true electric islands.

Networked or standalone?

Some microgrids are standalone units others are interconnected networks. Interconnected microgrids are a network of energy storage and electricity generators that form a unified whole. In contrast, standalone microgrids are single units that produce and store all the power in the same location.

Standalone microgrids have generators, such as solar systems, fuel cells, gas generators, wind turbines, and storage devices, like batteries, flywheels, supercapacitors, or compressed air tanks.

Interconnected microgrids’ components are geographically spread apart and use multiple generators and reserves, allowing them to access a more significant electrical load. They frequently service neighborhoods, towns, and large facilities.

Grid connection? It’s up to you.

Microgrids’ utility are in their ability to disperse electricity without drawing on the utility companies’ labyrinth of wires and poles. Some are grid connected so you can switch between the power sources. The rest are permanent electric islands, always producing power independently.

Microgrids can travel, electrify homes, power facilities, and serve entire communities. Key to picking the right microgrid for you, is deciding where you’ll use the electricity and how much you need.

Drawing of a lively neighborhood powered by a community-scale wind + solar microgrid. Many of the homes and office buildings have solar panels and small windturbines on their roofs — Neighborhood powered by a community-scale wind + solar microgrid.

How widely are microgrids used?

Across the globe, microgrids power innovative people, businesses, utilities, and communities because they offer excellent reliability, cost savings, sustainability, and independence.

How many are there? How much energy do they produce?

A 2020 study by Guidehouse Insights found 1,639 microgrids in the United States, providing over 11,000 MW of power capacity – the same amount of energy as 5 million gallons of gas. Fossil fuels power 80% of those microgrids. However, the US Department of Energy is working to have 50% of microgrids renewable before 2030.

Microgrids are becoming increasingly popular around the globe. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 1 million microgrids were operating worldwide at the end of 2016. By 2040, this number could reach 10 million.

When considering the scale of microgrid deployment, it’s worth noting that many reports only count the largest microgrids. Personal microgrids, like the portable ones and those powering small businesses and homes, now make up the majority of microgrids but are often ignored or categorized separately as mini-grids or nano-grids. Considering that, it’s possible to imagine everyone with microgrids within a few years.

Where can you find a microgrid today?

Microgrids are all around us. They go camping, propel yachts, electrify islands, show up after natural disasters, power critical facilities, and energize homes.

Almost every country on Earth uses microgrids.

The grid in Texas is highly unreliable, so residents have added solar microgrids to their homes to get backup power and lower energy bills. In 2020 over Valentines Day, a winter storm named Uri knocked out the power in the state for over a week. Thanks to Robert Soldat’s microgrid, his house kept the heat and lights on, allowing nearby friends to shelter there.

California families seek microgrid power. Over 25% of home solar systems are sold with batteries. Large institutions in the state, like Santa Rita jail, also have adopted microgrids in mass over the past decade.

Box Power has sent solar microgrids to many remote communities in Alaska. These solar microgrids provide year-round power and liberate towns from depending on shipping or flying-in fuel.

Above the arctic circle in Canada, the RAGLAN copper and nickel mine is only accessible a couple of months a year and by sea. The mine generates power every day of the year with a hybrid microgrid that uses a diesel generator and windmills.

Renewable microgrids are quickly replacing expensive, polluting, and supply chain-dependent diesel generators on islands in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Tonga, and Greece.

Iluméxico has spent the last decade expanding electricity access in indigenous and hard-to-reach communities throughout Mexico. They sell small portable and home microgrids that power lights, radios, TVs, small appliances, and charge cell phones.

Gaming centers have recently opened in two rural off-grid towns in Uganda thanks to solar microgrids becoming available to local entrepreneurs.

And this is only a sliver of the places using microgrid power…

The cutting edge of microgrid technologies

The microgrid space has evolved rapidly, and there’s no sign that it will slow down soon.

Over the past decade, many advancements have come from clean energy technologies steadily getting more powerful and less expensive. That’s why most of the new microgrids use hybrid energy sources or are fully renewable.

Utility companies paying microgrid owners to use their electricity is another recent development, shortening microgrids’ payback period. Microgrids already usually pay for themselves with the savings on energy bill savings.

The newest entry to the microgrid space is electric vehicles (EV). With the introduction of bi-direction chargers, the cars’ batteries are now able to network with homes and utilities. They’re quickly becoming essential parts of the microgrid toolkit. There’s even a new networked microgrid in the UK whose only members are EVs.

How we make microgrids more accessible

Lower their prices
Make them more powerful
Make them more portable
Power more of them with clean energy
Increase the number of providers
Grow providers’ coverage territories
More opportunities to sell their power

Stay ahead of the pack

Knowledge is power. Follow these sources to get the latest information on microgrids:

Microgrid Knowledge is an authority on fossil, hybrid, and renewable microgrids powering businesses and extensive facilities.

Greentech Media is one of the most trusted sources of clean energy news. Their microgrid newsfeed is a great place to track news and current events.

And, of course, join the Electric Islands mailing list for remarkable microgrid content sent directly to you.

Graphic of a virtual power plant (VPP) connecting homes, buildings, electric vehicles, to each other and the grid. Sharing their available electricity and battery storage.

What is a Virtual Power Plant?

By Alexander Boom

On October 22, 2022

In Products, services, and tools

A virtual power plant (VPP) is another manifestation of the sharing economy. It’s your neighborhood energy pool.

Virtual power plants are a set of software and agreements that create a network of digitally connected distributed energy resources (DERs), like solar panels, home batteries, and renewable microgri d s, to pool their excess electricity production and power storage.

The VPP optimizes the pooled resources to ensure that its members – the owners of the DERS – have more reliable electricity and can sell their extra resources at a great price.

How does a virtual power plant work?

Virtual power plants’ software leverages a power grid‘s existing network of physical wires, poles, and substations to connect and coordinate the use of many individual homes, businesses, and facilities’ solar panels, windmills, hydro turbines, heat pumps, fuel cells, electric vehicles (EVs) batteries, and/or renewable microgrids. The VPP adds the available electricity generation and energy storage from each of its members’ DERs to a shared energy resource pool.

The virtual power plant’s members tell the VPP how much of their electricity production or battery storage it can use. The VPP monitors the DERs and determines how to use each member’s resource.

Virtual Power Plants use the pool of resources to enhance the entire network’s resiliency, and economies of scale enable its members to earn more from electricity and storage sales than they could on their own.

VPPs are often set up by a utility or DER company or through a public-private partnership.

Power plant vs. virtual power plant

It’s a virtual power plant because it generates electricity like a traditional power plant, but the VPP’s electricity generation comes from virtually connecting DERs that are physically spread across a geographic area instead of coming from a centralized plant.

If power plants were computers, a traditional power plant would be a large centralized data center, and a virtual power plant would be a network of many internet-connected personal computers and phones.

VPPs can be small or large, depending on their purpose, which is in contrast to conventional power plants’ extensive facilities…

Coal power plant next to a river with fumes pouring out of 4 massive smokestacks. — Coal-fired power plant blowing smoke. Photo by Kelly.

Virtual power plants can consist of just several homes’ solar microgrids — or hundreds of thousands of people connecting a wide variety of DERs. Regardless of the VPP’s size, each has an aggregator – a company or organization – that manages its data and energy flow.

A virtual power plant connecting solar-powered homes to each other and the grid. Image by Members Energy. — A VPP connecting solar-powered homes to each other and the grid. Image by Members Energy.

Traditional and virtual power plants also create electricity with different energy sources. Power plants typically burn fossil fuels, like coal or natural gas, while VPPs’ DERs tend to be powered by clean, renewable energy sources, like the sun and wind.

What happens when you join a VPP?

Joining a VPP generates serious benefits for you and your neighbors.

Behind the scenes, the grid constantly does the delicate dance of ensuring it has enough electricity to fully meet the demand without overproducing and unnecessarily raising costs.

When the grid misses a step, electricity prices are driven up, or people’s lights start going out.

During times of lower demand, virtual power plants often use their batteries to store excess electricity from intermittent sources, like wind and solar. The VPP then makes that stored energy available when there’s high demand. Doing so helps give VPP members, utility companies, the grid, and the local community a better ability to match electricity demand and supply.

Having a VPP in your area prevents blackouts and saves you money on energy.

Optimizing for the duck curve

What do you do when you wake up in the morning?

In addition to trading in your pajamas for clothes and, hopefully, bathing, you likely turn on a lot of electronics – lights, coffee makers and kettles, stoves, radios, TVs, and computers. By mid-morning, most of us have left the house for work, classes, meetings, errands, exercise, etc. As the sun sets, people start coming home and turning on their devices again, typically using them longer than in the morning.

This behavior pattern causes electricity demand to surge in the morning, lull in the middle of the day, and peak in the evening.

Solar panels start producing electricity when the sun rises. Production peaks around midday and then falls off as the sun sets…and people come home. Causing a significant mismatch in the timing of electricity production and usage. This intraday fluctuation in demand and production is called the duck curve.

Chart and graphic showing the "duck curve" which is a description of the appearance of daily energy demand's trend line. Demand is low in the early morning but rises until peaking around 8am where it then dips until 3pm when it rises quickly until the daily peak around 6pm followed by a decline until 3am. — The energy demand and supply “duck curve.” Image by Elements.

Virtual power plants enable us to store the excess solar energy being soaked up by the solar panels in their batteries.

Then, make that power available to the grid’s managers when demand increases. Enhancing their capability to meet our energy needs with a clean, low-cost supply.

This capability significantly benefits everyone connected to the grid, even if they aren’t a VPP member.

How virtual power plants help your neighbors

Even if your neighbors aren’t VPP members, they benefit when you become one.

Fewer blackouts

By adding your DERs to a grid-connected VPP, you’re helping the neighborhood avoid power outages. There are up to 3 ways it can happen…

Connect a battery. You’re creating a deeper reserve of energy from which the grid can draw when its current electricity generation can’t keep up with demand.
Connect a generator. Adding your solar panels, wind turbines, or heat pumps to the grid provides greater capacity to generate electricity, making it less likely for demand to surpass supply.
Disconnect from the grid. If you island your home from the grid at times of peak demand, it assures that you’re not adding additional demand for the limited supply.

The VPP constantly monitors their members and third parties’ energy demand, then adjusts participation in the grid’s supply and demand to optimize for preventing outages and generating revenue.

If the grid has a blackout in your neighborhood, and your home is powered with a renewable microgrid, you can keep your lights on and invite neighbors over to enjoy the comfort of your home.

Cheaper energy

Increasing demand for the grid’s electricity is often accompanied by higher prices for the utility company’s customers.

The price increase is at least partly due to the grid’s need to get electricity from more expensive sources to meet the larger demand. By design, the utility company generates electricity from the least expensive sources capable of meeting the current demand.

So when electricity demand surges, the utility company must increase output from its generators and turn on new generation sources. By design, providing these additional electrons comes at a higher cost to the utility company than what it costs them to meet the lower demand threshold.

When utility companies can tap into a virtual power plant’s energy pools, they can access electrons at a lower cost and pass those savings on to customers.

How VPPs help their members

The pooling of electricity allows VPP members to coordinate electricity generation and energy storage. Enabling them to use and trade energy more effectively. The bigger your pool, the more excess electricity and storage you have, and the more money you can make from selling it.

Gaining more resiliency

You experience fewer outages as a VPP member.

The enhanced resiliency derives from the ability to use the other VPP members’ available electricity if your DER hasn’t produced or stored enough to meet your current needs.

You also have a much larger reserve of backup power than just what can be produced and stored on your own. The VPP’s software manages the collective energy pool, allowing members to access needed electrons.

When winter storm Uri knocked out much of Texas’ grid for over a week, DER owners and VPP members kept their lights on while avoiding astronomical energy bills.

Making more money

Pooling the energy means VPPs can trade power with favorable economies of scale. Allowing its members to secure more lucrative payment terms than they could on their own.

As a VPP member, you make money by selling the excess electricity you produce or your available energy storage capacity to external users, like utility companies and the grid. You can also arbitrage rates, allowing you to save money and sell electricity at higher prices.

Enabling powerful rate arbitrage

Rate arbitrage is taking financial advantage of the frequent changes in the grid’s electricity prices. This enables you to avoid paying too much for electricity from the grid as well as sell your energy resources when prices rise due to high demand on the grid.

By joining a virtual power plant, you can arbitrage rates more effectively due to its larger pool of electricity production and energy storage.

You save money on energy bills by switching off your grid electricity when utility companies charge high prices. Inversely, the VPP can turn on grid energy when prices drop. Depending on where you live, those prices can change daily, hourly, or even by the second.

The VPP can monitor the market’s price changes and automate your selling, storing, and islanding at the times that maximize your financial return.

VPPs’ arbitraging of rates is so powerful that SunPower, a leading provider of solar microgrids, estimates that their customers will save at least $100 and up to $1000 per year by participating in its VPPs.

General Electric expects its VPP members in Portland, OR, to earn $20-40/month by selling their available battery storage.

In Australia, the utility company AGL pays homeowners $100 when they enroll their battery in its VPP and then makes quarterly payments of $45.

The money you’re paid usually originates from the utility company operating the grid. Although you may be paid by the VPP instead of directly from the utility company. This payment structure varies quite a bit from VPP to VPP, as they have different aggregators and stakeholders.

Where can you find virtual power plants?

In 1997, Dr. Shimon Awerbuch published the book “Virtual Utility: Description, Technology, and Competitiveness of Emerging Industries .” It was the first time the virtual power plant concept was shared with the general public.

VPPs became of practical interest in Europe post-2010, partly due to Germany’s commitment to close its nuclear power plants paired with their catalyzation of the solar industry the decade before.

Europe’s first VPP kicked off in 2012 when the Nordic energy company Statkraft implemented one in Germany that generated electricity equivalent to 10 nuclear reactors.

Today, Virtual Power Plants have spread to a handful of countries, and they’re expected to continue spreading quickly as producing your own electricity is being adopted globally.

Here’s where you can find Virtual Power Plants today:

VPPs in the United States

11 US states offer virtual power plant memberships to DER owners:

Hawaii
Oregon
California
Texas
Maryland
Delaware
Rhode Island
New Jersey
New York
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New Hampshire

In partnership with the local utility companies, one or all of the major brands offering solar microgrids, SunPower, Sunrun, Tesla, Sunverge, Generac, and Enel X, offer their customers VPP membership in these states. On top of these solar brands, VPP companies Swell and Ohm Connect have programs in many of these states.

VPPs in Japan

Japan is still looking for ways to increase its energy production capacity since a massive earthquake destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011. A Californian company, Autogrid, and the storied Japanese conglomerate Toshiba are developing VPPs in the country.

VPPs in Taiwan

Enel X runs a virtual power plant in Taiwan that recently allowed its members to begin receiving regular payments by selling their available storage to Taipower.

VPPs in Australia

Australia has one of the most publicized VPPs. Managed by Tesla, it’s one of the country’s largest. Tesla made a big splash in 2019 by being the most well-known international brand to offer VPP members to thousands of homeowners. In April 2022, Tesla announced the expansion of its VPP to provide membership to 50,000 Australian homes with Powerwalls. Because the Australian government has invested in smart meters, Tesla knows when there’s extra capacity available from local customers’ solar systems and batteries.

Utility companies AGL and Evo Power also offer VPP membership to Australians with a wide range of battery brands. AGL’s VPP is available to homeowners, whereas Evo Power’s is designed for commercial and industrial clients.

VPPs in the European Union

Next Kraftwerke, based in Cologne, Germany, operates one of Europe’s largest virtual power plants. The Next Pool VPP is a network of over 13,000 decentralized power generators and consumers. With such a large VPP, they can optimize networked customers’ electricity production and consumption 24/7 based on price signals and trade their electricity on various European exchanges (e.g., EPEX and EEX).

VPPs in the United Kingdom

In 2017, UK Power Networks embarked on the kingdom’s first “virtual power station,” as the company called it. The initial trial included 45 homes with batteries in the London area. VPPs’ momentum has been building here ever since.

Octopus Energy operates a VPP in conjunction with Tesla. Offering membership to UK homeowners with Powerwalls. Interestingly, in February 2022, Ev.energy received £295,000 in funding to build out the UK’s first VPP with only electric vehicles (EVs) as the DERs.

Where your DER’s type, size, and location dictate which VPPs you can become a member of.

Who uses virtual power plants?

So, who are the people actually becoming VPP members?

There’s a broad range, from massive industrial facilities to individual households. Some members own just one DER, like an electric vehicle, while others have many solar systems, wind turbines, smart meters, and batteries. Members joined their VPP through their power utility, DER provider, or a company specializing in VPP services.

Let’s meet a few of today’s VPP members.

Finn Peacock in Australia made this enlightening video about the benefits and drawbacks of being a member of his local VPP for the past 4 years.

In Houston, Texas, a project called TexFlex has recently enabled 14 apartment renters in the Montrose neighborhood to get the SolarEdge Energy Bank and become members of PearlX’s VPP. In doing so, these Houstonites get cleaner and cheaper electricity.

I’ve also joined a VPP, even though our building doesn’t have DERs. OhmConnect’s unique VPP allows you to become a member by adding your DERs, smart thermostats, or smart outlets. So that I could join and add to their energy pool, OhmConnect sent me 2 free smart outlets after telling them that I’d like to be a member.

Now, OhmConnect updates me about upcoming energy shortages on the grid and pays me if I decrease my power use during that time, which I almost always do. It’s so easy – their app enables me to remotely turn on and off the smart outlets.

Alexander Boom lying on the ground, pointing at the smart outlet that connects the apartment to OhmConnect's virtual power plant. — My “smart outlet” is part of OhmConnect’s VPP. Selfie of Alexander Boom.

Becoming a VPP member

Many people don’t fully appreciate the power that comes from generating and storing our own electricity. But you’re not like most people.

A solar system, electric vehicle, and home battery make sense because it sucks relying on costly fossil fuels that pollute and frequently cause blackouts. Once you begin powering life with these DERs, you can also use them to join a virtual power plant.

We’re leaders who’ve recognized that cutting pollution is excellent for the bottom line and creates more resilient lives. And now, by joining a virtual power plant, you can grow the return on investment for your solar system, home battery, and electric vehicle while bolstering your resiliency. So how do you become a VPP member?

How to join your local virtual power plant

Contacting your utility energy company is usually the quickest way to determine if a grid-connected virtual power plant is in your area. Companies or organizations in your area offering solar panels, batteries, windmills, hydro turbines, fuel cells, heat pumps, or EVs should also know if there’s a local virtual power plant that you can join with one of these technologies.

What if there isn’t a VPP in my area today?

It’s shocking to see how quickly VPPs have spread across the globe in less than 10 years, but your location and DER type still dictate your access.

Frankly, the speed that VPPs proliferate is largely dependent on the VPP aggregators. While working for SunPower, I helped plan VPP expansion into the Midwest and experienced how challenging it can be for stakeholders (utilities, hardware providers, renewable microgrid platform operators, local associations) to decide who’s responsible for the VPP’s’ monitoring, payment, and upkeep.

But I’ve also seen how much effort some of the world’s largest clean energy companies and utilities are investing in growing VPPs and creating shared rules of the road. So even if there isn’t a VPP in your area today, they’re likely will be one before 2030.

“2030! That’s too long!!!” You say. I agree. Here’s a few ways to speed up the process…

How to get a VPP in your area

Request your utility company to offer a VPP. And encourage neighbors to do the same.
Request that local DER companies and organizations create a VPP. And encourage other DER owners to do the same.
Join the Electric Islands mailing list to get updated on VPP developments, and share them with your community so that neighbors become aware of the benefits they can reap by having a VPP locally.

Abraham Lincoln staring at you on a rubber-banded roll of $5 bills.

Protect yourself from unpredictable energy prices. Democracy will thank you.

By Alexander Boom

On August 24, 2022

In Energy Politics

My life has always been powered by fossil fuels, from most of the vehicles I’ve ridden in, to the buildings I’ve sat and slept in, to the devices I’ve worked and played with.

Were you born in the past 100 years? Then it’s likely the same for you.

One of the many problems with a life on fossil fuels is the volatility of energy prices. We never know how much it’s going to cost to fill a tank of gas, ship a package, take a trip, or heat our homes.

That reality begs the question, who controls how much it costs to power our lives?

While there are millions of people who impact how we get our energy and the price of a barrel of oil costs, the majority of the world’s fossil fuel resources are controlled by a handful of people…and most of them aren’t fans of free will and democratic choice.

Russia is the largest exporter of fossil fuels, so today, Vladimir Putin has more control over global energy prices than anyone on Earth. In 2022, he decided to invade Ukraine to overthrow the democratically elected government, as well as maintain control over electricity in Ukraine. As a result, the price of living went up for all of us.

We can throw our hands up, keep riding with Vladimir, and hope he has a change of heart. Or we can choose a new path forward – energy independence, by producing our own clean electricity. Because today, renewable energy technologies enable us to produce clean electricity for ourselves, and that electricity has lower and more predictable energy prices than the dirty stuff we get from burning fossil fuels.

With new accessibility and affordability to solar panels, heat pumps, electric vehicles, and renewable microgrids, you can cut the chord with fossil-fueled dictators and put more ching-ching in your pocket.

Energy prices are up

Since we got past the initial shock of COVID-19’s emergence, the cost of almost everything has been inflating. What’s on your mind recently when you bought groceries, planned a trip, or filled your gas tank? For me, it’s usually, “Well, that cost more than I was expecting!”

Gas in Oakland, CA, is down from its recent high of $7/gallon, but it still costs much more than it did before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. I thank Science for my Prius’s gas mileage. But I wish my car was fully fueled by cheap, clean electricity.

One man’s decision to wage war drove up gas prices by over 60% in the US and caused them to soar in countries across the globe.

How?

Well, many countries sanctioned Russia for Vladimir’s actions, limiting their access to fossil fuels. But the demand for energy in those countries didn’t magically drop when the supply became inaccessible. So it’s a pretty simple formula: less fuel + steady energy demand = increased energy prices.

And it’s mounting pressure on families across the globe.

Understandably, people and governments are scrambling to stabilize energy prices and develop domestic energy production.

So, what are the options?

How we lower energy prices

There is only 1 option for a country to ensure energy prices stabilize at home.

Produce more energy domestically.

That can be done in 1 of 2 ways.

Produce more fossil fuels domestically or produce more clean energy domestically.

Increase the supply of gas, coal, and oil

The depth of our dependence on fossil fuels means that the only way to quickly lower global energy prices is to rapidly increase their supply.

That’s the reality of life on fossil fuels…and it’s why we’re seeing resurging efforts to dig up more fossilized carbon and convince authoritarians to release their oil and gas stockpiles.

And gas prices have been coming down from their recent highs…

Chart showing the retail price of a gallon of gasoline in the US from September 2021 to September 2021. The prices started increasing steadily in March 2021 and peaked in June 2022. In September 2022 the average price was $4.051. — US retail gas prices over the past 12 months.

Although it’s unclear how much the decrease is attributable to the world’s exporters increasing global supply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been unwilling to significantly increase production. They’re benefiting from the price increases, and many of its members are authoritarians with no interest in hurting Vladimir, a fellow authoritarian, in support of democratic countries and a democratic cause.

Even if OPEC has a change of heart and gas prices fall to pre-invasion levels, or countries are able to ramp up domestic fossil fuel production to stabilize their energy prices for their citizens, it’s critical to recognize that ramping up fossil fuel production is only a stopgap solution. Ultimately, the costs of burning fossil fuels are too high for it to work for long. The taxes on our independence, health, and savings from a life on fossil fuels are damaging and unacceptable.

The costs of life on fossil fuels

Burning fossil fuels tax our pocketbooks

Burning fossil fuels is frequently more expensive than producing clean electricity with renewable energy technologies.

Chart of global energy prices by generation source in October 2021. It shows renewable energy sources generally being cheaper than conventional sources. Overall, wind is the cheapest source. — Global energy prices by generation source, October 2021.

Why?

Well, do you know what it takes for fossil fuels to become the electricity that’s cooling drinks in your refrigerator?

Dig deep into the Earth or cut off the top of a mountain to collect as much coal, gas, and oil as possible.
Carry those fossil fuels 100s or 1000s of miles to a power plant.
Burn the fossil fuels in the power plant to create steam.
Use the steam to turn a turbine that produces electricity.
Send the electricity from the power plant through 100s of miles of high-power transmission lines to a local substation.
Transfer the electricity from the substation through lower transmission wires to your home.

And guess what? At each step of the way, energy is lost to the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels to produce electricity is one of the most inefficient and energy-intensive processes you could dream up.

What does it take for renewable energy technologies to create electricity?

Collect energy from the natural surroundings.
Convert it directly into electricity.

That’s it.

Sometimes the electricity from renewable energy technologies is sent to a substation and then to you, but distributed energy technologies, like solar microgrids, produce the electricity where it will be used.

Burning fossil fuels taxes our health

Burning fossil fuels creates air pollution from all the particulates in the smog that are released into the air.

Exposure to high levels of this pollution causes many health problems, like heart attacks, cancer, asthma, and organ damage.

In 2018 alone, fossil fuel air pollution killed 8 million of us. That’s more people than have died from COVID-19 in all the years combined!

Burning fossil fuels taxes our safety

The impacts of the Climate Crisis are affecting people differently, but two phenomena are global:

The warmer the climate gets, the more extreme weather becomes.
The more we burn fossil fuels, the warmer the climate gets.

At our current rate of fossil fuel burning, Manhattan will regularly flood in less than 30 years, and much of NYC and New Jersey will frequently be underwater in less than 70 years.

Map of forecasted coastal flooding in NYC and New Jersey in 2100 from sea-level rise. 15% of population are forecasted to experience regular flooding. — NYC and New Jersey forecast flooding from sea-level rise by 2100.

In Tanzania, the toll of the climate crisis is already clear. It’s estimated that over 70% of the country’s current natural disasters are caused by climate warming from burning fossil fuels. It’s why the government is looking to expand Tanzanian energy independence by investing in the deployment of clean energy technologies.

Burning fossil fuel taxes our freedom

As we discussed, most of the people who control the majority of the world’s fossil fuel reserves are authoritarians – that fact alone is telling about the corrupting power of fossil fuel fortunes.

Buying fossil fuels lines their pockets. Empowering them to further their ability to control their own citizens and people around the world while subverting democratic values across the globe.

Just take a look at OPEC’s members.

Map of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members. Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. — Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members.

Half the countries are controlled by authoritarians:

Venezuela – Nicholas Maduro
Gabon – Ali Bongo Ondimba
Iran – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Kuwait – Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
Qatar – Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani
United Arab Emirates – Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan
Saudi Arabia – Mohammed bin Salman

Buying fossil fuels lines their pockets. Further enabling their control over citizens of their countries and people around the world. These authoritarians use that control to subvert democratic values across the globe, such as free speech, political dissent, freedom of expression, and equal rights for women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ communities.

They do it by investing in sports teams, advertising campaigns, tourism promotion, and event hosting, as well as lobbying politicians, military personnel, business leaders, and educators to whitewash their reputations. This whitewashing enables political leaders of the countries who buy their fossil fuels to have the reputational cover needed to continue returning to these fossil fuel dealers.

Controlling the world’s fossil fuels while distracting from your megalomania is a potent combination.

Germany recently caved on sanctions against Russian coal imports over concerns about energy prices.

President Joe Biden just did the same with sanctions on a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.

He followed it up by flying to Saudi Arabia and fist-bumped Muhammad Bin Salman, the man who controls the country’s oil reserves, and chopped up US resident and Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Joe Biden fist-bumping Muhammad Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. — Joe Biden’s recent fist-bump with Muhammad Bin Salman.

Burning fossil fuels taxes our stability

Life in societies built on fossil fuels is as unpredictable as global fossil fuel prices and the whims of authoritarians.

During the current price surge that started since Vladimir’s invasion, OPEC has consistently vote against the increasing of oil production, which would support the countries sanctioning Russia and lower global energy prices. Even after the sanctioning countries leaders have plead and brushed aside their stated values to please the petroleum controlling authoritarians.

If it wasn’t clear before, these past few years have proven that it’s a terrible idea to double down on fossil fuel dependence and reliance on the people controlling them.

It’s time for a new path forward that can lower energy prices and protect democratic values. Luckily there is one. Generate electricity from domestic clean energy resources. It provides affordability, reliability, and independence.

“Clean energy independence is the only real solution to protect national security, lower our energy prices, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for veterans, front line communities, and fossil fuel workers.” @MarkRuffalo to @KatyTurNBC on clean energy technology development. pic.twitter.com/6troz6qUTA
— Katy Tur Reports (@KatyOnMSNBC) April 26, 2022

Produce clean electricity domestically

Producing electricity with clean energy technologies that use domestically abundant renewable resources, like wind and sunlight, secures energy independence, fixed costs, and prices. Clean energy technologies produce electricity for free and are managed locally.

So, if generating clean electrcity is free and burning fossil fuels is not, then the vital question is: how does the price of purchasing clean energy technologies compare to the cost of buying energy produced from burning fossil fuels?

As we saw in the chart above, in most cases the total cost of producing electricity wind, geothermal, and solar electricity is cheaper than from burning gas and coal.

Now consider that solar panels, batteries, windmills, hydro turbines, fuel cells, and heat pumps keep becoming cheaper to manufacture and more efficient at generating electricity. So, each year it’s cheaper to buy these technologies that produce free electricity, while the law of scarcity says fossil fuels only get more expensive the more we use them (up).

Seems like an easy choice for countries, producing clean electricity domestically is superior to a life fossil fuels with its associated taxes.

Investing in domestic clean electricity generation

It seems that some politicians have seen the light. They’ve recognized that the energy predicament we find ourselves in today requires new solutions. They’re taking action to combat today’s high energy prices by investing in clean energy at an unprecedented scale. Working to unshackle their country from energy dependence, authoritarian control and uncontrollable energy prices.

One example is the United States congress and President Biden passing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS), which bolster the domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies and provide the wolrd’s largest ever investment in clean energy production via tax and incentives for communities, businesses, organizations and citizens who power themselves with clean electricity.

Joe Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act in the White House, seated in front of 5 clapping US Senators and Representives. — The US passes the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to tackle energy prices, prescription drug prices, and the Climate Crisis.

Clean electricity offers predictably low energy prices

You can protect yourself from inflating energy prices by powering everything with clean, renewable electricity. You produce free electricity with your own solar panels, heat pumps, wind turbines, fuel cells, or watermills. If your home, business, tools, and vehicles are electric, you’re untethered from most fossil fuels and their costs.

Producing your own clean electricity also means that the cost of powering your home or business can stay the same each month. That’s true even if you use a lease or loan to obtain the clean energy technologies. And because the electricity is free, some people eliminate their monthly lighting and heating bills.

Whether you purchase an electric vehicle (EV), solar system, or renewable microgrid, it’s a fixed cost. So, your energy bill savings magnify when fossil fuel prices spike. Individuals and businesses have already demonstrated how impactful the savings can be.

During the 2021 winter storm Uri in Texas, people with renewable microgrids continued producing clean electricity, saving them from power outages and outrageous energy prices. Meanwhile the vast majority of Texans lost power and heat for up to a week while their towns were buried in snow. Many homeowners “lucky” enough to keep getting gas and electrcity from the grid then received exorbanant bills – some were charged $10K for a week’s worth of energy.

Saving money on energy bills is why Macy’s, an international retailer, powers stores in California with solar microgrids. Using the power produced by solar panels and stored in batteries allows the company to avoid frequent and expensive spikes in the grid’s energy prices.

What a clean energy life looks like

Most of us have lived on fossil fuels…so what does choosing to power our lives with clean energy look like?

Well, besides having a bigger bankroll and more independence, people who power their lives with clean energy…

Stopped buying gas
Collect clean energy at home
Store backup power in batteries

It’s unrealistic for many of us to electrify everything overnight and power it with clean energy. But delayed action does come at a high cost.

The impact and value of your clean energy investments compound with time. Meaning the best time to invest in them was last year, and the second best time is today.

Here are 3 common ways that people protect themselves from climbing energy prices, break their dependence on fossil fuels, and start powering life with clean energy…

Don’t buy gas. Get an electric vehicle (EV)

Having a hybrid saves me a ton of money. In the spring, I drove from Oakland to Tahoe, CA, and spent $50 on gas. I went to Tahoe again a week later, but this time in a friend’s 2022 Bronco. It costs us $120.

Electric vehicles (EVs) cost even less to drive and have even more advantages than their hybrid and combustion engine cousins. Primarily because they transfer energy more efficiently.

Graphic of a combustion engine vehicle that shows 75-84% of its fuel's energy is lost before moving the vehicle. — Combustion engines convert only ~20% of their fuel into moving the vehicle.

Graphic of an electric vehicle that shows 31-35% of its fuel's energy is lost before moving the vehicle. — Combustion engines convert only ~20% of their fuel into moving the vehicle.

An equal amount of energy drives an EV 3x farther than a gas-powered vehicle of the same weight…and you can charge at home instead of going to a gas station to fill up at the pump.

Typically, the price of gas increases by 4% each year. Right now, it’s up over 30% year over year. Electricity costs more in 2022, but it’s only gone up 6%. So even if you’re buying electricity from the grid instead of producing your own clean electricity, charging a car is still much cheaper than buying gas.

As a result, in California, where gas prices are exceptionally high, EV sales have never been in greater demand. In Q1 of 2022, EV sales are up 29% over Q4 of 2022 – the most recent quarters where we have precise data.

EVs also…

Have fewer moving parts = less maintenance
Have more torque and, therefore, fantastic acceleration
Are silent
Don’t pollute
Can power your home

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro electrifying a home with its battery during a grid power outage. The homeowners are cleaning up debris the driveway. Pre-production model with available features shown. — 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro electrifying a house with its battery.

You can now power your home with Ford’s EV F-150 Lightening. Providing new opportunities to arbitrage fluctuating energy prices.

EV adoption proliferates as models are released with powerful batteries, and governments have agreed to support the evolution of driving. The IRA provides a $7500 tax credit to EV buyers and a massive expansion of charging infrastructure.

Don’t buy energy. Collect it.

Home with all-black solar panels covering the entire front pitch of the roof. — Home with solar panels and predictable energy prices.

We all can generate clean electricity for ourselves. It’s one of the technological miracles of this century, or more realistically, necessity once again being the mother of invention.

Today, solar panels are the most common tool people use to generate their own electricity and lower energy bills. More panels cover roofs and open spaces each year because the word is getting out about how much money you can save.

With solar, it doesn’t matter how much electricity you use or what’s happening with gas prices; you know exactly how much you’ll pay each month for the equipment and energy. You’ve essentially locked in the price of today’s electricity for the life of the solar system…and quality systems last 20+ years.

On average, the cost of electricity from your utility goes up 2% per year. So when you have solar, the energy bill savings compound each year. In 2022, a solar system’s return on investment (ROI) grew massively because inflation raised the utilities’ prices by over 6% compared to last year.

Net Metering

Many utility companies offer net metering programs, which allow you to make money selling them electricity. Net metering works by adding the extra electricity we produce and adding it to the grid’s supply, then crediting us for what we supplied against what we used over a month.

These programs are especially valuable for homes with solar panels because they collect the most energy during the middle day, but we typically consume the most in the evening. At the end of the month, if we’ve added more electricity to the grid than we’ve used, the utility company pays us for the extra.

Diagram showing the flow of energy and payments when a solar microgrid participates in "net metering". Energy flows from the solar panel to the electric grid and then to the user. Payments can flow to the user or the grid depending on whether the user is using all of their solar microgrid's electricty production, they are using electricity from the grid, or providing electricity to the grid's other users. — Solar microgrid’s energy and payment flow with “net metering.”

Clean energy technologies for your home

Solar panels are the most common way to produce your own electricity at home, but heat pumps, windmills, and hydro turbines can be great options.

Gradient's heatpump on the inside of a room by hanging on a windowsill. — Gradient’s heatpump that hangs on windowsills.

Purple painted moving truck parked on a city street with solar panels covering the roof and hanging over the edges plus a wind turbine attached to the back. — DIY wind + solar microgrid-powered electric truck in Oakland, CA. Photo by Alexander Boom.

12 small watermills attached in a line and paddling in a pond in front of a farm in Vietnam. — Wind + hydro microgrid powered facility in Vietnam. Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh.

The key is finding the clean energy technology that provides the greatest value where you live.

Be energy-independent. Collect and store clean energy.

Drawing of a home powered with solar panels and a battery. Dollar signs are floating outside of the house to demonstrate the solar microgrid saving money on energy bills.

A renewable microgrid allows you to collect AND store clean energy and then use it to generate electricity on demand. Creating your own electric island.

Renewable microgrids use software to combine a clean energy generator, like solar panels, with a battery. Giving you free electricity, protection from the downside of energy spikes, the ability to make money from the energy they produce, and independence from fossil fuels.

‘Interested in saving money on energy bills? Check out solar microgrids.‘ explains how to calculate the right microgrid size for you and if it will lower your energy bills.

Benefit from changing energy prices with a renewable microgrid

Like a solar system, renewable microgrids have a fixed cost and produce free electricity. All high-quality home renewable microgrids have a warranty of at least 10 years. So, once you have the microgrid, you know exactly how much you are paying for the next 10 years.

Renewable microgrids’ free electricity protects you from the downside of energy spikes, and their money-making potential grows as fossil fuels get more expensive.

Grid-connected homes with renewable microgrids can arbitrage electricity rates. The microgrid can be programmed to power your home with the grid’s electricity when those prices are lowest and then switch to using and selling the microgrid’s energy when prices rise.

Virtual Power Plants

If you have a home battery, renewable microgrid, or electric vehicle, you can get paid for sharing extra electricity and battery storage with your local virtual power plant (VPP).

After joining a VPP, your battery’s available energy storage and renewable microgrid’s extra electricity can be used by VPP members or sold to utility companies.

Virtual power plants (VPPs) enable you to make money from your microgrid through…

More powerful rate arbitrage. A coordinated network of microgrids’ economies of scale can sell electricity at more advantageous rates than an individual microgrid.
Payment from utility companies to access your excess energy storage.

SunPower, a leading solar and battery provider, estimates that its residential customers with solar microgrids make $100-$1000 annually by participating in its VPPs.

What to consider when picking a renewable microgrid

For many of us, this option is the most significant shift from the status quo and provides complete energy independence. But with renewable microgrids, you choose how self-reliant you want to be by either staying interconnected with the grid and deciding when to island (disconnect) or cutting the cord with the utility by going off-grid.

Both options provide free electricity and protection from the downside of energy spikes. Still, staying connected to the grid may make you more money from net metering, rate arbitrage, and VPPs.

When choosing the type and size of renewable microgrid, it’s key to account for…

How much energy do you use today? and will the amount change in the future?
- Your electricity usage will increase if you…
  - Get an EV, hot tub, or other large electronic
  - Upgrade to a fully electric home
  - Grow your family

Electricity generation from renewable sources is often intermittent.
- The wind doesn’t always blow. The amount of sunlight you receive varies day-to-day. Hydropower depends on water levels. These fluctuations won’t affect your quality of life if you have enough energy stored in batteries. Still, it’s why many people keep their grid connection even after getting a renewable microgrid. Interconnection with the grid provides backup power and more choice in energy sources.

Start your clean energy life

Protecting yourself from unpredictable energy prices by switching from a life on fossil fuels to becoming powered by clean energy takes a little work, research, and effort. But like most things in life, the riches go to those who work for them.

In my opinion, more money in your pocket, increased independence, and the ability to sleep at night are worth a bit of initial effort. These resources can make the transition to a clean energy life simpler:

Rewiring America has an amazing free guide that shows how to electrify your home and the impact it has.

Energy Sage allows homeowners in North America to request designs and quotes from multiple local providers. Allowing you to quickly learn about your available clean energy technologies and their prices.

And, of course, join the Electric Islands mailing list to receive more tips and resources for your clean energy journey.

Lit yellow street light on wire in front of a blue sky.

Securing independence and electricity in Ukraine.

By Alexander Boom

On April 17, 2022

In Across The Globe, Energy Politics

Shortly after the 2nd Russian invasion of Ukraine, electricity in Ukraine was weaponized.

Ukraine’s government is now scrambling to increase domestic energy production, connect to Europe’s power grid, keep the lights on, and reclaim their land.

Because electricity in Ukraine is precarious at the moment, generating electricity and storing back-up power with solar microgrids can provide Ukrainains with greater energy security. Solar microgrids are potent tools in disaster and war zones because they don’t need fuel or the grid, transport easily, set up quickly, and operate silently.

More microgrids providing renewable electricity will save lives and help protect Ukraine’s indepence.

Tattered Ukrainian flag hanging from a flag pole in front of an overcast sky. — *Photo by Vitali Odobesku.*

Ukraine’s electricity and independence are intertwined

Vladimir Putin has a toolbox full of tactics he applies to atempt controlling other countries. In some places it’s violence, cyber warfare, and military occupation. In others, he plants information and political leaders. Perhaps most broadly, Putin leverages infrastructure and energy access.

He’s employed almost all of these tactics in Ukraine. And yet, due to his attempts to control Ukraine, Ukrainians are less connected to him than they ever have been.

Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity

It’s shocking to learn that your president secretly built a 2,000-animal zoo at their house…but then it’s less surprising to discover that they’ve also been stealing from everyone.

Well, that’s what happened with Ukraine’s 4th President, Viktor Yanukovych (the winkster below).

Ukraine's 4th president Victor Yanukovych sits next Russia's president Vladimir Putin and winks at him. — Victor Yanukovych showing that he’s a good boy.

Although he later tried to quell Ukrainian anger over his zoo by explaining, “I supported the ostriches. What’s wrong with that?”, Victor was profoundly corrupt.

Victor stole $100 billion from his people. He was also Vladimir’s puppet.

In 2013, Victor tried pulling Ukraine out of agreements with Europe that Vladimir opposed but had broad support among Ukrainians. This sparked months of protests in Kyiv called the Революція гідності or “Revolution of Dignity.” In February 2014, clashes between riot police and protestors left 108 protests and 13 police dead, leading to Victor fleeing to Russia.

Crowd of thousands Ukrainians protesting at night in the Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square in Kyiv, Ukraine during the 2014 "Revolution of Dignity" — Ukrainians protesting for democracy in Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti square.

The day after Victor arrived in Russia, Vladimir invaded Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Since then, Ukraine’s military has fought Russians occupying their land while Russia’s coal, gas, and nuclear supplies have provided much of the electricity in Ukraine.

The cognitive dissidence of this relationship made many Ukrainians uncomfortable. But until recently, progress had been slow in freeing the country from Vladimir’s energy influence.

The fight to control electricity in Ukraine

On February 24th, 2022, Ukraine planned to independently power all of its citizens for 3 days. It would have been the first time they didn’t use any electricity produced in Russia or Belarus.

Assuming a successful test, Ukraine planned to begin transitioning the country to be purely powered with energy generated domestically and flowing from a new interconnection with Europe’s power grid.

Ukraine’s government believed that as early as summer 2022, they’d update their grid infrastructure and stockpile enough coal to cut the chord with Vladimir.

Instead, Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, forcing Ukraine to immediately island its grid and begin connecting with Europe. This makes Ukraine’s electricity supply fragile until there’s a secure interconnection with Europe and stability in the country.

Russia is weaponizing electricity in Ukraine

Russia cut off the internet and electricity in much of Ukraine just before invading. They then quickly moved to control Ukraine’s domestic energy production.

In the first weeks of the war, Russia captured multiple hydroelectric and nuclear power plants, including Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear plant in Europe. Zaporizhia’s staff continue running the plant at gunpoint, preventing a nuclear meltdown.

So far, Ukraine’s grid has held up better than expected. Still, over 800,000 Ukrainians don’t have power while I’m writing this, and Russia will continue making it challenging for Ukraine’s grid to meet demand.

NASA satellites show a dramatic reduction of lights within the country once the invasion started. The dark nights are caused by power outages and the fear of light attracting Russian attention. At night in the besieged city of Mykolaiv, the hospital operates in the dark night to avoid being shelled.

It’s a necessary measure. Russian soldiers are committing war crimes. They’re intentionally targeting civilians in hospitals, shelters, and government facilities.

In the city of Mariupol, Russia bombed a maternity clinic and a shelter with 1,300 civilians on the inside and “children” written in Russian all around the outside. Russian troops encircled the city in early March. Since then, residents have had almost no access to outside food, water, fuel, or electricity.

Yet some citizens and the Defenders of Mariupol remain.

Ukrainians need to produce electricity in Ukraine

While the Ukrainian government works on connecting the grid to Europe, the people of Ukraine need to take matters into their own hands. Once again. This time by producing their own electricity.

Producing electricity in Ukraine reduces Vladimir’s sphere of influence and helps secure Ukraine’s independence. It also saves the energy available on the grid for citizens and soldiers who need it and can’t produce their own. And ultimately, producing electricity eliminates the risk of depending on someone else for warmth, cooking, and communication.

Across Ukraine, you can buy solar microgrids that collect and store energy from the sun. These unique tools allow civilians to power devices, homes, and businesses without connecting to the grid. They also enable Ukraine’s warfighters to independently power their units.

Renewable microgrids powering Ukraine’s warfighters

Supply lines have always dictated warfighters’ stealth and reach.

In modern warfare, gas and oil are among the most common and crucial resources transported in supply convoys.

Over 3,000 U.S. soldiers and contractors died transporting fuel in warzones across Iraq and Afghanistan. So the U.S. military decided to “electrify its tactical edge.” Meaning that they’re moving to a fully electric vehicle fleet and bases and mobile units powered by renewable microgrids.

The ability to electrify remote outposts and mobile units is critical for all militaries and soldiers. The more self-sufficient Ukrainian warfighters are, the better they can protect themselves and keep a tactical advantage.

Many renewable microgrids are portable, and they don’t use fuel or create noise, making them effective energy sources while on reconnaissance, guarding bases, or securing new territory.

Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Systems (GREENS) are designed for warfighters and used by the U.S. Marines. Each one produces up to 24 hours of 300W power by collecting 8 hours of sunlight. UEC Electronics, the manufacturer, says GREENS require no maintenance and only 20 min to set up. Although this video shows 2 of them constructed in less than 12 min.

While Ukraine evolves into a fully energy-independent country, Ukraine’s warfighters need reliable electricity to stay alive and succeed on the battlefield. Solar microgrids can provide a powerful tactical advantage.

Citizens can generate electricity in Ukraine with solar microgrids

In late February, Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor and former world heavyweight champion boxer, set up emergency generators around the city in preparation for the war. They’ve undoubtedly helped many residents during the city’s outages.

But gas generators’ depend on fuel, need to run outside, and are noisey, which makes them impractical for many civilians in war zones. Some people can’t or won’t leave their homes, while others cannot settle in one place. Renewable microgrids can provide essential lifelines for Ukrainians in these situations. Providing light, warmth, cooking, and communication.

Portable and home solar microgrids can help Ukrainians with different needs generate their own electricity.

Portable solar microgrids

With so many people on the move in Ukraine, portable solar microgrids, a type of renewable microgrid, can provide a lifeline. They allow you to carry an endless supply of energy and generate electricity wherever you are. Enabling you to stay in contact, track ongoing developments, and power crucial devices like lights, heaters, stoves, and phones.

The Jackery Solar Generator 1500 is ranked as the best portable solar microgrid of 2022 by Consumer Reviews and Tech Radar.

Jackery Solar Explorer 1500 solar microgrid with 4 solar panels and 1 battery+generator. — Jackery Solar Explorer 1500 solar microgrid

Its battery provides over 1500Wh of power, enough to run a 60-watt cooler for over 20 hours, and gets charged by the solar panels in 5 hours. The whole microgrid weighs around 40 lbs. and costs $2900.

Since 2009, Goal Zero has built high-quality portable power banks and renewable microgrids.

3 types of Goal Zero solar microgrids: Goal Zero Yeti 200x Portable Power Station + Nomad 20 Solar Kit, Goal Zero Yeti 500x Portable Power Station + Boulder 50 Solar Kit, Yeti 500x Power Station + Nomad 50 Solar Kit. — 3 Goal Zero solar microgrids capable of producing electricity in Ukraine.

There’s an astounding range of portable Goal Zero solar microgrids. The least powerful one costs around $400 and has 187Whs of battery storage, the most powerful offers 6000Whs of storage for close to $7,000.

RYOBI 300W battery generator with a 40V lithium ion battery and portable charger.

The RYOBI 300W battery generator is light, affordable, and solar-chargeable. Making it a valuable tool if you have to move frequently or suddenly and can’t carry heavy equipment. The battery generator is only $80 and weighs 2.3 lbs., but it produces enough electricity to power a phone, radio, or heated blanket.

These portable renewable microgrids are also more versatile than gas generators because they can charge the battery and power devices with a power outlet or solar panels.

Solar microgrids for Ukrainian homeowners

Before the war, around 12,000 Ukrainian homes were powered by solar systems. Some of those solar systems are connected to batteries, creating microgrids that can provide 24/7 power and supply electricity to the grid.

Ekotechnik is a Ukrainian renewable energy company that provides home-solar microgrids. Ekotechnik’s website has a range of solar and microgrid products to choose from.

You can order online or over the phone at +38 (067) 524-83-36.

Electricity in Ukraine going forward

Agonizingly, this war appears that it could go on for years. For survive and thrive, Ukraine and Ukrainians need energy independence as quickly as possible. Renewable microgrids are key tools for this transition that also will help improve life in Ukraine today.

This war has clarified how important it is for each of us to power life with clean energy. We enable dictators like Vladimir the longer we buy gas, coal, and oil from them.

Germans got the message. 1/3 of their energy currently comes from Russia, but demand for home solar systems has never been greater. It has increased significantly since the Russian in invasion of Ukraine.

How you can help Ukraine

Ukrainian blue sky and field covered in yellow flowers on a sunny day. — Bright skies in Ukraine. Photo by Kostiantyn Stupak.

Here are a few ways to support Ukraine’s energy transition and independence…

Supply Ukrainians in need

Meest, meaning bridge in Ukrainian, has long been a leading delivery service between former Soviet Union countries and much of the world.

The humanitarian aid page on Meest’s website is an excellent source for updated details on what humanitarian aid they’re shipping to Ukraine and what you can contribute.

They have continued their standard international delivery service to Ukrainians with stable addresses and send aid packages to where they can be distributed to those in the most need.

Hire Ukrainians

Need to make a hire and want to expand your talent pool? Take a look at available remote Ukrainian workers and post job openings on EmployUkraine.org.

Support journalists like Anastasiia Lapatina

Veteran Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Lapatina gives an intimate view into what it’s like to report on war as it comes to your hometown.

Follow Anastasiia on Twitter @lapatina, and other Ukrainian reporters to help shine a light on the war’s impact.

Share stories of renewable microgrid users

It’s Electric Island’s mission to highlight how clean, renewable energy and microgrids give us independence and power life around the globe.

Do you have a story, service, or piece of advice that can help Ukrainians navigate energy independence? Send it to ElectricIslandsBlog@gmail.com to share it with our community.

Grandmother in sunglasses fanning herself with cash.

Interested in saving money on energy bills? Check out solar microgrids.

By Alexander Boom

On January 6, 2022

In Products, services, and tools

Powering your household with a solar microgrid makes it more resilient, reliable, and sustainable because you’re using a renewable source to produce your own electricity 24/7. But are people also saving money on energy bills by getting solar microgrids?

Yes. And many more of us should be.

Millions of people in the US and billions worldwide could cut costs by powering their homes and businesses with solar microgrids.

In most places, it’s cheaper to produce electricity by collecting sunlight instead of digging up and burning fossil fuels. That’s why we keep seeing more people cover their roofs with solar panels.

And recently, storing large amounts of energy in lithium-ion batteries became affordable and practical for home and business owners.

By charging these batteries with solar panels, we create a solar microgrid. With a solar microgrid, we can use solar power at night, escape power outages, avoid spikes in energy prices, generate free electricity, and even sell our excess power and battery space.

So, can you do it?

Well, before rushing out to buy a solar microgrid, follow the steps below to discover if you’ll save money on energy bills and, if so, how much.

Calculating your solar microgrid’s energy bills savings

When your solar microgrid starts producing electricity, you’ll likely start saving money on energy bills.

Once those savings add up to more than the price of buying and upkeeping your solar microgrid, the microgrid has paid for itself and begins paying you.

Typically, a home’s or business’ solar microgrid takes at least a few years to pay for itself. That payback period may be even shorter if you use little electricity or live where energy is expensive.

Payback period = solar microgrid price / annual savings on energy bills

Once you know the payback period, compare it to the length of the solar microgrid’s warranty(s) to see if it is guaranteed to pay for itself.

Guaranteed savings = payback period > length of the warranty

That’s how to calculate if you’ll save money by getting a solar microgrid.

Need help assessing (1) your solar microgrid’s price, (2) how much it’ll save you annually, and (3) the length of its warranty? Then follow these 7 steps:

The 7 steps to calculate if you’ll be saving money by getting a solar microgrid:

Add up how much you spend on energy in a year
Determine how much electricity you use in a day
Look up how many hours of sun your home gets
Decide what size solar microgrid you need
Calculate the solar microgrid price by size
Calculate the solar microgrid’s payback period
Compare the payback period to the length of the warranty

1. How much do you spend on energy bills today?

Three female entreprenuers reviewing bills for their coffee shop. — Entrepreneurs reviewing savings on energy bills from their solar microgrid. *Photo: Ketut Subiyanto.*

To determine if you’ll save money on energy bills with a solar microgrid, you first need to know how much it currently costs to power your household.

If you buy energy from a utility company, look at your bill and find a breakout of the energy prices they charge and how much you spend on gas and electricity.

Graph of my energy costs over the past 12 months in Oakland, CA with utility company PG&E. Average monthly bill of ~$75. — My home’s total energy costs over 12 months in Oakland, California, with PG&E.

If your home is already fully electric or you plan to upgrade all your appliances to electric once you have a solar microgrid, then look at the bill’s total amount.

If you’re still going to use some gas to power your home even after having a solar microgrid, then just look at what you’ve been spending on electricity.

Graph of my electricity costs over the past 12 months in Oakland, CA with utility company PG&E. Average monthly bill of ~$40. — My home’s electricity costs over 12 months in Oakland, California, with PG&E.

Graph of my gas costs over the past 12 months in Oakland, CA with utility company PG&E. Average monthly bill of ~$40. — My home’s gas costs over 12 months in Oakland, California, with PG&E.

Living off-grid or getting energy in addition to what you buy from a utility company? Then you add up the cost of buying wood, charcoal, kerosene, gas, diesel, and electricity.

Once you have the total annual cost of the energy you’re planning to offset with the solar microgrid, you’re ready for Step 2.

$1,950 = Annual electric bill

*Average household in Hawaii

2. How much electricity do you use every day?

You need to know how much electricity you use annually to determine if a solar microgrid will collect enough energy to meet your daily needs.

Calculating your energy consumption (in kilowatt-hours kWh) over the past 12 months ensures you get a solar microgrid that’s powerful enough to meet your needs year-round. Our energy needs vary daily and seasonally due to weather, hosting guests, vacations, new appliances, etc.

If you have a utility company, they have a breakdown of your monthly consumption.

If you live off-grid, manually calculate how much you spend on energy each year.

Once again, if you’re still going to use some gas or other fuel to power your home after getting a solar microgrid, then just look at what you’ve been spending on electricity.

Graph of my energy usage over the past 12 months in Oakland, CA with utility company PG&E. Average monthly usage of ~300 kWhs — My home’s energy usage over 12 months in Oakland, California, with PG&E.

For a more accurate estimate of your usage, take the annual average for the past couple of years. *This assumes you haven’t had major changes in lifestyle/energy use during that period. If you have, then just use the 12-month period(s) that best reflect your usage going forward.

Once you have your annual electricity usage, divide it by the number of days in the year to estimate your daily consumption, then you’re ready for Step 3.

6,444 kWh = Annual electricity usage

*Average household in Hawaii

17.65 kWH =  6,444 / 365 = Daily electricity usage

*Average household in Hawaii

3. How much sunlight does your home get?

How much sunlight your solar panels can soak up plays a significant role in determining if a solar microgrid will generate enough electricity to meet your needs. It also determines if saving money on energy bills is possible with a solar microgrid or if another type of renewable microgrid is a better option.

Look up the annual average of peak sunlight hours you receive each day.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory mapped most of North and South America’s annual average daily hours of peak sunlight.

Once you have the number of peak sunlight hours your home receives in a day, then you’re ready for Step 4.

Map of the Americas illustrating annual average total daily hours of peak sunlight, ranging from under 4 to over 7.5 hours. — Total daily hours of peak sunlight in the Americas.

6 hours = Daily peak sunlight

*State of Hawaii

4. How much electricity can solar microgrids produce where you live?

Now let’s figure out how much energy your solar microgrid needs to collect and store to offset your current annual usage. That way, you know if a solar microgrid works as your household’s primary energy source and if you’ll save money on energy bills.

We measure solar panels’ power output in kilowatts (kW).

We measure batteries’ energy storage capacity in kilowatt-hours (kWh) – the same metric we’ll use to measure our energy use.

How big a solar system do you need?

It’s a simple formula to determine the solar system size needed to cover your annual electricity usage.

1. Take the average daily kWh of electricity you use, and divide it by the average daily hours of peak sunlight you receive.

2.95 kW = 17.7 kWh / 6 hours

2. Divide the result by 80% to account for the electricity lost when converted from the direct current (DC) solar panels produce to the alternating current (AC) your home uses.

3.7 kW = 2.95 kW / 80%

3.7 kW = Solar system size needed to cover annual electricity usage.
 
*Average household in Hawaii

You want a solar system that’s a bit larger than what the calculation says. That way, you won’t worry about producing enough power when the weather is terrible or you just want some extra juice.

So for our ‘average household in Hawaii’ example, I’d get a solar system of around 4 kW.

How much battery storage do you need?

The average kWh you use daily is the energy storage capacity needed to fully power your household for 24 hours.

17.7 kWh = Battery capacity needed to provide 24 hours of elecricity usage.

*Average household in Hawaii

During the day, your microgrid’s solar panels will recharge the battery and power your home. So, you likely don’t need a battery that can power your household for 24 hours. Although, having one that size will give you plenty of extra battery storage and the ability to sell more electricity and storage space.

For most people, a battery that stores 12 hours’ worth of energy is enough to ensure you don’t run out of power.

8.9 kWh = Battery capacity needed to provide 12 hours of elecricity usage. 

*Average household in Hawaii

As with the solar system, you likely want batteries with enough capacity to provide backup power for more than just the average day.

When calculating the size and price of your battery, you need to decide how many kWh of stored energy match your lifestyle, resilien cy, and financial goals.

Once you know how the size of the solar system and battery you want, then you’re ready for Step 5.

5. What’s the total price of your solar microgrid?

Add your payments for components, services, and installation

To calculate if you’re saving money on monthly energy bills and the solar microgrid’s overall return on investment (ROI), first add up what you’re paying for the microgrid’s solar panels, battery, installation, and services.

The 3 factors most closely tied to solar microgrid prices are:

Where you live
The quality of its components
The amount of energy it collects and stores

In the U.S., EnergySage, Solar Reviews, and Clean Energy Reviews share the average prices for buying and installing home solar systems and batteries. Their websites also enable you to request competing quotes from local solar microgrid providers.

$11,640 = 4 kW solar system

*Average price in Hawaii

$5,940 = 9 kWhs of lithium-ion battery storage 

*Average price in the Hawaii

$17,580 = $11,640 + $5,940

*The price of a solar microgrid that produces enough electricity to power the average household in Hawaii for 24 hours and stores enough energy for 12 hours of usage.

Remember that having someone install or interconnect your solar microgrid may incur additional costs.

Also, many solar microgrids companies offer free monitoring software that tracks electricity production, usage, and storage. But if you purchase the solar system and batteries from different companies or install them on your own, then you may need to buy separate monitoring software.

Talk to the professionals who sell and install solar systems, batteries, and solar microgrids in your area to assess the additional costs. It’s likely worth speaking to a couple of companies to compare their prices and service levels.

Subtract the value of available incentives

Apply the value of available incentives to the total price of the solar microgrid’s components, installation, and services.

Tax breaks, tax credits, rebates, and discounts are frequently available from governments and non-profits that want to promote resiliency and sustainability.

In the US, you can apply the Federal Investment Tax Credit to the total price of solar panels, batteries, and installation.

$13,009 = $17,580 x 74% 

*The price of the average household in Hawaii's solar microgrid after applying the 26% Federal Investment Tax Credit.

Once you’ve calculated the solar microgrid’s price and subtracted the incentives’ value, you’ll know how much is needed to buy it, then you’re ready for Step 6.

6. How quickly will your solar microgrid pay for itself?

Now the moment of truth…how quickly will you start saving money by switching to a solar microgrid?

As we discussed, it’s likely as soon as your solar microgrid starts producing electricity. But we want to know if our investment in a solar microgrid will pay for itself, paying you back for your initial investment in the equipment and installation and then paying you extra moving forward.

So we need to calculate how quickly your savings on energy bills equals the price of the solar microgrid = the payback period.

If the solar microgrid fully offsets your current electricity usage, your current annual electricity costs become your savings.

6.7 years = $13,009 / $1,951 per year 

*Payback period for a solar microgrid that produces enough electricity to power the average household in Hawaii for 24 hours and stores enough energy for 12 hours of usage.

After your savings on energy bills equal the price of the solar microgrid, the solar microgrid starts paying you.

Once you know your payback period, you’re ready for Step 7. Our final step!

7. How long is your warranty?

Knowing how long it takes for the solar microgrid to pay for itself could be the last step in deciding if you will save money on energy bills. But we want to see if it’ll pay for itself with the money saved on energy bills while it’s still under warranty. If it does, then your solar microgrid has a fantastic ROI and you’re guaranteed to pay yourself back for the initial investment in the equipment.

So the final step is comparing the length of the solar microgrid’s payback period with the component of the solar microgrid with the shortest warranty.

High-quality solar panels have 20-25 year warranties, although some solar panels’ warranties are as short as 5 years. Well-made lithium-ion batteries, with at least 1 kW of storage capacity, typically come with a 10-year warranty.

3.3 years = 10-year battery warranty - 6.7 years

*The minimum time that the average household in Hawaii will get free electricity from their solar microgrid. An amazing return on investment!

$643.5 = (3.3 years x $1,950)/10 years

*Annual savings on energy bills for average household in Hawaii after switching to getting their electricty from a solar microgrid.

Saving money on energy bills? Consider this…

For over a decade, the solar industry has measured its customers’ payback period and ROI by comparing the price of the solar purchase or lease to the savings on energy bills. That’s essentially the same thing we do here with a solar microgrid.

Unsurprisingly, Hawaii’s solar microgrids have the quickest payback of all 50 states (see chart below). Hawaii has the most expensive grid electricity.

Chart of the average household's payback period on a solar microgrid by state. Hawaii has the shortest payback period of 6.7 years. The average payback period for the entire United States is 17.0 years. — The average household’s payback period on a solar microgrid by state.

It also isn’t surprising that the average U.S. household’s payback period is longer than 10 years. Lithium-ion home battery prices keep falling, but they only became cost-effective for some homeowners in the past 2 years.

As previously noted, solar microgrids tend to pay for themselves quickly if you don’t use much energy, especially if most of the household’s power comes from burning charcoal, firewood, or kerosene.

Regardless of how much energy we use today, most of us desire to sustainably use and afford more power…not less. Here are a few tips for increasing how much money a solar microgrid saves and makes you.

Tips for saving more money with a solar microgrid

Man counting how much money he's saving on energy bills with a solar microgrid. — Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko.

Lower the price of the battery

Lithium-ion batteries account for a big part of a solar microgrid’s price. Using a battery with less energy storage capacity or with lead-acid instead of lithium-ion chemistry can drastically reduce costs.

Your home can stay powered for the same amount of time with a smaller, and therefore less expensive, solar microgrid and battery if you’re willing to run fewer appliances on it. Considering what’s critical vs. ideal to keep powered during a grid blackout or when the sun isn’t out, you may realize you can reduce the battery size.

Ultimately, the battery size that’s the right fit for you depends on how much backup power you need to achieve peace of mind.

Lithium-ion batteries have become very popular in solar microgrids because they’re longer-lasting, lighter, and store more energy than lead-acid batteries. However, lead-acid batteries are much less expensive.

Many renewable microgrids use lead-acid batteries for energy storage. Lead-acid can be a great option if you have lots of space to store batteries and a tighter budget.

Install the solar microgrid yourself

A solar microgrid is like most things. You’ll save money if you install everything yourself, as long as you do it correctly and efficiently. Your effort and time can turn into savings of 30-50% on the price of the solar microgrid.

Many people have done it. But don’t be fooled. It’s hard work.

If you install the solar microgrid, it’s crucial to your safety to have an experienced electrician review your work before you start generating power.

Factor in the cost of a power outage

We didn’t factor it into our calculation, but there’s financial value in never experiencing a power outage. The impact of avoiding a blackout is different for each of us.

How much is it worth to you to never again experience spoiled food, lost business, or health risks from not having electricity?

Buy a solar microgrid when the price comes down

Still can’t figure out a way to make the finances work today? Just keep these energy price trends in mind…

Every year, the prices of solar panels and batteries come down.
Every year in the U.S., the cost of electricity from the grid goes up about 2%.

For those two reasons, in almost every state, solar microgrids are paying for themselves quicker in 2022 than in 2021.

Make money with your solar microgrid

Arbitrage energy prices from your utility company

Depending on your utility company, their energy prices often change as frequently as every hour, minute, or even by second.

We can equip solar microgrids with software that takes advantage of these price changes, automatically allowing you to switch to the lowest-cost electricity source.

With the software set up, the solar microgrid sells your excess electricity when prices on the grid are highest, then switches you to grid electricity when prices are low.

Join your local virtual power plant

Becoming a virtual power plant (VPP) member networks your solar microgrid with other microgrids, pooling excess electricity production and energy storage. The VPP monitors its members’ available resources and sells them to utility companies so the grid can use them. In doing so, you can make hundreds to thousands of dollars annually and shorten your solar microgrid’s payback period.

Calculating precisely how much money you’ll save on energy bills.

Couple buying a solar microgrid after calculating if they'll be saving money on energy bills. — Photo by Andrea Piacquadio.

The methodology outlined above is an excellent way to estimate your payback period and savings on energy bills. But, to get a precise calculation, you also need to consider these factors:

How much solar power generation and storage do you need?
How much sunlight reaches the panels’ exact location annually?
What are the solar panels’: model, degradation rate, and warranty length?
What are the battery’s: model, degradation rate, and warranty length?
How is the solar microgrid going to be installed?
How is the solar microgrid going to be interconnected?

You can calculate the exact payback period by determining these factors on your own, but it’ll likely be easier to consult a solar microgrid provider. Reputable solar microgrid providers offer free consultations where they calculate these factors and then provide a microgrid design and price quote.

Energy Sage allows you to request and compare competing quotes from national and local microgrid installers in North America.

More resources for saving money on energy bills

Savings money on energy bills is a popular Electric Islands theme, and there are even more techniques and technologies you can use.

To learn about more money-making and saving opportunities, check out these blog posts…

Bill-crunchers and Money-makers in Who uses renewable microgrids? Should you?
Protect yourself from unpredictable energy prices. Democracy thanks you.
What is a virtual power plant? Your neighborhood’s energy pool.

Electric company worker looking confused while interconnecting electric wires.

Who uses renewable microgrids? Should you?

By Alexander Boom

On December 5, 2021

In Renewable Microgrid Users

When the lights went out in Texas

Valentine’s Day of 2021 was a disaster in Texas.

Winter Storm Uri made that February 14th the coldest day on record in much of the state.

The further the temperature fell, the more people turned up the heat. Once it hit the freezing point, lights started going out and heaters shut off.

There was an electricity and gas shortage. Texas’s power grid couldn’t meet the soaring demand.

The grid’s operators and electricity producers had failed to invest in weatherizing energy infrastructure. So gas pipelines, windmills, and coal reserves froze and became inaccessible.

And Texas’s grid is unique in that it’s isolated from the rest of the country’s power networks. So they could get electricity from surrounding states.

Snow falling at night on a street light and powerline. — Photo by Egor Kamelev.

Before all the lights came back on a week later, more than 4 million residents had experienced a power outage.

Extreme weather costs the unprepared

Desperate Texans heated their freezing homes in any way possible. Some powered their heaters with car batteries, while others burned furniture.

Tragically, at least 151 people died from the storm. Many of them had frozen.

Some households avoided outages but received astronomical electricity bills in return. Texas’s deregulated energy market allows different energy companies to sell the same pool of grid energy at different prices – even to people in the same neighborhood.

In Houston, Lisa Khourey didn’t lose power, but her monthly bill was over 100X higher. She was devasted to see it jump from $250 to $9,456.

When signing up with her power company, Lisa had agreed to pay the real-time market rate for energy in exchange for priority access. During Uri, the energy supply was exceptionally low, and demand was extremely high, resulting in massive price jumps for the remaining energy.

Prepared Texans used renewable microgrid power

Meanwhile, a ‘lucky’ few generated electricity while Uri raged. These people turned on their renewable microgrids to create electric islands that avoided the danger, discomfort, and life-altering bills that plagued their neighbors.

In reality, those generating their own electricity weren’t lucky. They were prepared and energy independent. Many had previously electrified their homes and powered them with renewable microgrids.

Houston homeowner Richard Boneno explains on local news how a solar microgrid kept his home powered during a multi-day grid outage. — Houstonite discusses his solar microgrid’s electricity production during Uri.

Roger Boneno, a resident of Houston suburb Sugar Land, was one of the prepared. During Uri, Roger’s solar microgrid produced so much electricity that he sold power to the grid. Moreover, having energy independence means Roger’s typical monthly electric bill is $20.

Who uses renewable microgrids?

It’s not just Texans who use renewable microgrids to become energy independent and create electric islands. Across the globe, lives have been transformed by renewable microgrids becoming cost-effective and widely available.

Powering your home, business, vehicle, or tools with a renewable microgrid can improve your life. Today, there are 7 types of renewable microgrid super users.

Are you one of them?

1. Who uses renewable microgrids? Preppers.

Man with clear safety glasses and yellow work gloves installing a solar panel on his roof on a sunny afternoon.

Preppers are people who use renewable microgrids for protection and energy independence.

Why Preppers choose renewable microgrids

Losing electricity is always a nuisance. During natural disasters, it can be fatal.

Preppers know this. They’ve prepared by powering their homes, businesses, and facilities with renewable microgrids. Now they rest assured that they’ll have power no matter how messy things get outside.

Blizzards in Texas

In the aftermath of Uri, U.S. clean energy companies experienced record demand for solar panels and batteries. The disaster in Texas demonstrated to the whole country the fragility of overdependence on energy from the grid.

Preppers recognized that blackouts are becoming more common as weather intensifies and we delay crucial infrastructure investments. They rushed out to get solar microgrids to protect themselves before the next major power outage. Choosing renewable microgrids over fossil fuel generators to avoid the noise, fumes, and running out of fuel.

Winter Storm Uri is a recent extreme example of how lives can be turned upside down or lost when the power unexpectedly goes out. Unfortunately, it’s common.

Hurricanes in Puerto Rico

When Hurricane Maria smashed into Puerto Rico in 2017, it knocked out the grid for months, causing the most significant outage in U.S. history. It became a huge challenge to run clinics, schools, businesses, air conditioning, and even refrigerators, putting a massive strain on the island.

3,000 Puertorriqueños died. Many more abandoned their homes. Save The Children estimates Puerto Rico lost 13 million cumulative education days due to Maria.

In the aftermath, people across set up renewable microgrids to become energy independent. Months before the government repaired the island’s grid, these Preppers had the power back on in their homes and communities.

Segunda Unidad Federico Degetau's students observing diagram of how the school's solar microgrid works and provides energy independence. — Students in Puerto Rico learn how their school’s solar microgrid works.

The Segunda Unidad Federico Degetau school in Barranquitas became energy independent by installing a 42-solar panel microgrid. Parents now have the peace of mind that another outage won’t disrupt their children’s education.

The American Red Cross is now working on installing 100 solar microgrids across Puerto Rico to keep kids in school and ensure communities have electrified shelters during natural disasters.

Wildfires in California

For 2 weeks during California’s 2020 fire season, our office overlooking the San Francisco Bay was filled with more smoke each day. The surrounding wildfires kept getting bigger and closer.

On one of the smokiest days, my coworker’s desk was stacked with charging laptops and phones.

He didn’t have power at home. To slow the spread of nearby wildfires, his town was under a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). Local powerlines were unelectrified to prevent sparking more fires if they broke.

As the fires came closer, his family was put under evacuation watch. Without electricity, tracking the fires’ movements, getting safety updates, and hearing evacuation announcements were nearly impossible. The office was a safe, reliable place to charge critical devices.

He rushed home after a couple frantic hours of charging in the office.

In the end, his home wasn’t evacuated. Thankfully. Many people nearby weren’t so lucky.

His family vowed never to put themselves in that position again. The terrifying week sprung them into action. Soon after, their home had a solar microgrid.

2. Who uses renewable microgrids? Leapfroggers.

Ugandan man putting 2 solar panels on this thatched roof home so it's powered by a renewable microgrid.

Leapfroggers are people who use renewable microgrids to leap from lacking electricity past the grid and into an electrified life.

Leaping past the grid

If you’re not connected to the grid today, you will likely never be.

A billion of us aren’t.

Most remote regions don’t get serviced by electric utility companies. Urban areas are full of electricity, but it’s often too tricky for many residents to access. And some of us have jobs that take us off-grid for long stretches.

Regardless of why Leapfroggers don’t get power from a centralized grid, they’ve all decided to become energy-independent. Every day more of us leap past grid dependence by generating electricity with renewable microgrids.

Ugandans electrifying

Ugandan energy use and generation are in the midst of a paradigm shift – from millions living in energy poverty to becoming self-electrified Leapfroggers.

Uganda is one of the least electrified countries. 80% of Ugandans don’t have electricity at home.

Many urban centers have an electric grid, but accessing it is prohibitively expensive for the average person. Even if you have the money, there’s often a multi-year wait to get interconnected. Electricity access is more scarce in the countryside, where the grid network is limited areas.

Until recently, most Ugandans could only rely on wood, kerosene, or charcoal for their lighting, heat, and cooking fuel.

These days, people are starting to use pay-as-you-go plans to electrify their homes with solar panels and batteries. While frequently lowering their energy costs.

Many Ugandans first leapfrog into electrification with a single solar panel. The smallest solar systems can charge phones and illuminate lightbulbs. In time, many are to generate more power for themselves by adding batteries and larger solar panels, powering fans, radios, TVs, refrigerators, and computers.

The money to upgrade their solar panels and acquire solar microgrids often comes from their savings on charcoal and kerosene or starting an electrified business.

Others get paid for referring new customers to solar microgrid companies. Like Jacob (pictured above), who earns a commission from his solar microgrid company, Fenix International, when he refers customers. After convincing over 40 of his neighbors to try Fenix’s products, he used the referral payments to purchase the powerful solar system and battery he desired so he could listen to the radio and watch TV at home.

Alaskans transitioning to solar power

The majority of Alaskan communities are situated in remote locations, so they’ve always had to be self-sufficient and energy independent.

In fact, Alaska has some of the first places powered by microgrids. Those first microgrids were diesel-fueled, but winter storms and -46 ºC temperatures often make it prohibitively expensive to transport fuel there.

Plus, burning fossil fuels is causing rapid glacier melting and rising sea levels. An existential threat to Alaskan communities.

That’s why BoxPower was recently hired to provide solar microgrids to towns across the state. BoxPower’s turnkey solar microgrids lower residents’ energy bills and produce electricity without depending on external supply chains or a centralized grid that never reached them.

Small remote Alaskan town with 3 storage containers in the foreground. Each container has 42 solar panels attached to them that power the town. — BoxPower’s solar microgrids electrify a remote Alaskan town.

Off-grid businesses becoming energy independent

For some companies, leapfrogging is the only way to power their operations.

Glencore operates the RAGLAN nickel and copper mine in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. The mine employs 800 people and uses 18 megawatts (MW) of mission-critical power.

The mine is inaccessible by land and only reachable by sea for several months a year. Making it impossible for RAGLAN to meet its energy needs from a centralized power grid. So, Glencore became energy independent by building a renewable microgrid at the mine.

The microgrid produces electricity with diesel generators and windmills and stores backup power in Saft lithium-ion batteries. Having dual power sources provides the power reliability needed for such a remote facility. Annually, the windmill’s electricity saves RAGLAN from burning over 4 million gallons of diesel.

Remote islands turning the lights on

In the early 2000s, Ben and Lisa sailed to Tonga’s Vava’u island group and decided to create the off-grid Mandala Resort. The resort was constructed on a deserted island using Fibonacci Sequence to blend into the island’s natural surroundings. Furthering the harmony with their surroundings, they decided to power the resort with a solar microgrid.

Today Mandala is powered by a 7-kilowatt (KW) solar system connected to 18 KWs of lead-acid battery storage. There’s a backup diesel generator in case of an issue generating electricity from the solar panels, but most days, the microgrid supplies all of the resort’s electricity.

Typically, by midday, the solar panels have fully charged the batteries that electrify the island at night. The rest of the day, the excess solar energy powers an Ecotech water maker that creates 2,000 liters of fresh water daily.

3. Who uses renewable microgrids? Backcountry-ers.

Backpacker sitting in his tent and looking at his cellphone. Photo by Kamaji Ogino. — Photo by Kamaji Ogino.

Backcountry-ers are people who use renewable microgrids to power off-grid journeys.

Unlocking exploration

Our tools for navigation, documentation, and communication require electricity. When traveling in remote areas, generating electricity with portable renewable microgrids opens new terrain and keeps us safe.

Backcountry-ers know that a reliable, replenishable, and transportable power source is vital to responsible adventuring.

Energy independence on outdoor adventures

The LuminAID Titan Power Lantern is always in my wilderness emergency pack. It’s lightweight, collapsible, and powerful, enabling easy travel while ensuring that I have light at night and my phone and satellite communicator stay powered.

“You never know when you’re going to have to set up camp. By having a way to generate my own power, I’ve found it allows me to stay out longer and truly have a ‘base camp’ I can rely on.”
Lindsey Davis

Entrepreneur and Ecologist Lindsey Davis and Himalayan skier Luke Smithwick bring more powerful portable microgrids on trips. Their passions and professions require sophisticated electronics and long stretches in the backcountry. Lindsey and Luke have been ambassadors for Goal Zero because they often rely on the company’s portable microgrids to enable their professions and journeys.

Energizing rescue teams

We all have a friend..or have been the friend…who needed rescuing from an outdoor adventure gone awry. When it’s your turn, you want rescuers’ full attention on the mission, not worrying about whether their tools have enough power.

Electricity is critical for rescue missions. It allows rescuers to power vehicles, satellite phones, medical devices, and shelters. Generating electricity from a renewable source ensures they’re not limited by the fuel they can carry and enhances their nimbleness.

4. Who uses renewable microgrids? Warfighters.

US Marine Sargent 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) combat cameraman, transmits imagery using a Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) powered by a Solar Portable Alternative Communications Energy System (SPACES) kit from King Faisal Air Base in Jordan to the USS Kearsarge.

Warfighters are people who use renewable microgrids to gain tactical advantages on the battlefield.

Powering modern warfare

Militaries require energy to power their forces and communicate. Warfighters are using renewable microgrids to generate electricity wherever their missions take them.

Militaries are driving clean energy adoption

Warfighters were some of the first to embrace clean energy and renewable microgrids.

That’s not surprising. Militaries are often the first to develop and adopt revolutionary technologies to gain an advantage on the battlefield. Many of those technologies are later widely used by the general public.

The Internet was created by the U.S. government for military intelligence.

Solar panels were first used to power the U.S. Navy’s spacecraft, Vanguard 1.

During the U.S. occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Marines began relying on renewable microgrids. They used Solar Portable Alternative Communications Energy Systems (SPACES) (pictured above) to transmit imagery and Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Systems (GREENS) to power units far from bases and supply lines.

GREENS are portable kits that unfold into large solar panels connected to a power cell. Each provides up to 24 hours of 300W power for every 8 hours of captured sunlight. At peak power, GREENS can provide 1000W.

UEC Electronics, the GREENS manufacturer, has shown that it takes as few as 12 minutes to set up or dismantle. See for yourself…

U.S. Marines travel with portable solar microgrids

The ability to electrify remote outposts and field units is critical for militaries and warfighters of all types. The more self-sufficient soldiers are, the better they’re protected and can control territory.

First Lieutenant Josef Patterson, commander of U.S. Marines India 3/5’s second platoon, oversaw a base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, that supply lines couldn’t reach for months. He relied on GREENS to provide power and ensure the chain of command stayed in touch. The Lieutenant explained, “If I don’t have [communication] with my troops and my higher-ups, I am lost.”

Producing their own energy saves Warfighter’s lives

In addition to being power generators that soldiers can travel with, renewable microgrids solve another major problem for the warfighters. They eliminate the risk of transporting fuel.

From 2003 to 2007, in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 3,000 U.S. troops and contractors died in fuel convoys. That reality is part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s motivation for ‘electrifying the tactical edge,’ which includes developing and deploying electric vehicle fleets and renewable microgrids.

5. Who uses renewable microgrids? Bill-crunchers.

Bill-crunchers are people who use renewable microgrids to save money.

Unlocking financial freedom

In most places, the grid’s electricity prices consistently rise, and for most people energy bills are unpleasant inevitability.

However, Bill-crunchers have figured out how to use renewable microgrids to turn local clean energy into free electricity, lowering their bills and generating financial freedom. For them, it’s fun to see how much free electricity they’ve produced that month, and how much that’s lowered their energy expenditures.

Save money. Generate your own clean electricity.

Energy is can be expensive. Across the globe, saving money is the biggest motivator for switching from burning fossil fuels to using clean energy.

Frequently the electricity produced from clean energy technologies is much cheaper than electricity produced by burning fossil fuels. That’s because clean energy technologies collect locally available renewable energy instead of relying on the labor-intensive and inefficient process of burning of fossilized carbon buried deep in the ground.

And with the price of lithium-ion batteries has fallen 97% since 1991. It’s now cost-effective combine clean energy technologies electricity generation capabilities with and batteries powerful energy storage capabilities to create renewable microgrids. Enabling us to have generate our own clean electricity for less than it costs to buy it from a utility company.

Crunching energy bills in Hawaii

The average person in the United States spends over $3000/yr. buying energy.

Energy bills are considered ‘affordable’ in the US if they consume less than 6% of a household’s income. However, the disturbing reality is that lower-income families typically spend 10% of their paychecks on energy-related expenses.

Hawaii has the most expensive electricity in the United States and the 5th highest poverty rate. On the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai, solar panels cover roofs everywhere you look. Unsurprisingly, there are many Bill-crunchers in Hawaii with solar microgrids who are saving money on energy bills.

Home with solar panels on roof in Hawaiian town of Waimanalo, on the island of Oahu. — Solar panels electrify home in Waimanalo, HI. Photo by Alexander Boom.

Produce electricity. Arbitrage energy prices.

In addition to renewable microgrids producing free electricity, they can be programmed to save Bill-crunchers more money by arbitraging the utility companies’ electricity price changes.

Depending on your local utility company, the price of grid electricity can shift from hour to hour, minute to minute, and even second to second. With the right software, grid-connected homes with renewable microgrids can ensure you get the best price when buying, or selling, electricity with the utility company.

This ‘rate arbitrage’ occurs by automatically powering your home with the lowest-cost electricity source. The renewable microgrid provides your home with electricity and sells the excess when prices on the grid are highest. It then switches to the grid powering your home and charging its batteries when prices are lowest.

Macy’s does this to prevent its stores from paying high-cost demand charges.

Lowering the cost of doing business

Businesses were some of the first adopters of renewable microgrids. The scale of their energy needs and facilities meant they could crunch energy bills with clean energy technologies and batteries that were much less efficient than today’s.

Macy’s has the 5th most solar capacity of any company in the U.S. In 2017, it installed solar microgrids at 3 stores in Southern California.

List of top 20 companies in the US by solar capacity. The top 3 are: Walmart Stores Inc., Costco Wholesale, Khol's Department Stores Source, U.S. Department of Energy, 2021. — Source: US Department of Energy, 2021.

Although Macy’s highlights that the solar-powered stores as part of their commitment to protecting the environment, they’ve also stated that adding renewable microgrids was part of their strategy to lower electricity bills by avoiding demand charges.

6. Who uses renewable microgrids? Money-makers.

Older lady sunglasses fanning herself with cash and showered in neon light. — Photo by Ron Lach

Money-makers are people who use renewable microgrids to generate wealth.

Generating wealth with renewable microgrids

Many opportunities exist to build businesses and make money by empowering people to generate their own clean electricity and become energy independent.

Money-makers have identified how to do that with renewable microgrids…and they’re cashing in.

Falling tech prices drive new business opportunities

In many countries for more than a decade, the use of renewable energy, particularly wind, and solar, has grown faster than with any fossil fuel. As we’ve discussed, that’s because collecting local energy is always cleaner and is often cheaper than digging up and burning fossil fuels.

With impressive recent advances in battery technology and production, batteries are seeing same rapidly falling price curve that solar panels started to experience over a decade ago. As a result, consumer demand has soared for renewable microgrids. It’s created a massive transition in how we power our lives and the start of a once in a generation business opportunity in the energy sector.

Start-ups and established corporations see the growth in consumer demand for microgrids and are rushing to capitalize on the opportunity. They’re investing to become the go-to sources for renewable microgrid hardware, software, and services.

Selling renewable microgrid hardware

SunPower grows customer revenue with solar microgrids

Want to make your home more energy independent? SunPower can equip, design, equip, and build a solar microgrid for you.

For the past 35 years, SunPower, known as Maxeon outside of the U.S., has produced some of the world’s longest-lasting and most powerful solar systems. With the release of their Sunvault battery in 2020, they began offering homeowners powerful, durable, and attractive solar microgrids.

Selling batteries to solar customers and offering virtual power plant (VPP) services to these microgrid owners recently became a key focus for the company. These new offerings increase the lifetime value of customer relationships and underline the company’s pivot from a solar panel manufacturer to a clean energy services company.

I know, I worked at SunPower when the pivot occurred. But as Levar Burton says, “don’t take my world for it.” Listen for yourself to recent SunPower earnings calls where it has stated that the company and its investors see the generation of microgrid customers as critical to long-term growth.

BoxPower builds rapidly deployable renewable microgrids

What’s the best way to ship a renewable microgrid? In a shipping container.

So what’s the best way to build a renewable microgrid that needs to be rapidly delivered across the globe? BoxPower believes it’s as a part of the shipping container.

Once their shipping containers arrive at their destinations, the solar panels are positioned on container’s roof and oriented to collect the optimal amount of sunlight.

In the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, BoxPower’s founder saw the dire need for refrigeration in communities without power. Since then, Californian towns impacted by wildfires, off-grid Alaskan communities, and hurricane-hit cities on the Atlantic coast have purchased BoxPower’s products to escape power outages.

BoxPower solar microgrid. BoxPower provides solutions for people and communities who use renewable microgrids. Photo by Structural Engineering Excellence. — BoxPower solar microgrid being set up. Photo by Structural Engineering Excellence.

CleanSpark power Bitcoin mining with wind microgrids

Bitcoin mining has become highly profitable as the cryptocurrency’s value soared over the past few years, but computing power for mining requires a massive amount of electricity. If Bitcoin were a country, then it would be in the top 30 most energy-consuming.

As a result, the price of electricity significantly impacts Bitcoin miners’ profits, and Bitcoin buyers demand mining that’s powered by clean energy. So renewable microgrid companies have been lining up to offer miners affordable, reliable, and clean energy.

In 2018, CleanSpark began building a wind microgrid to power 23 mobile Bitcoin mining stations in Atlanta, Georgia. With the success of that project, Cleanspark now wants to expand its microgrid offerings to large-scale miners who annually use 10 to 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Virtual power plant membership and profits

Virtual power plants (VPPs) are networks of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable microgrids. The VPP pools and coordinates the use of each DER’s stored energy and electricity production.

The VPP’s pooling of resources creates economies of scale that enable its members to sell their power and storage at better prices.

VPPs’ arbitraging of rates is so powerful that SunPower estimates their customers will save at least $100, and up to $1000, per year by participating in their local VPP. General Electric expects its VPP members in Portland, OR, to earn $20-40/month just from renting their excess battery storage.

DERs are become more powerful and widespread, VPP networks are scaling, and energy prices keep increasing, so this sector is rapidly evolving. It’s one to keep your eyes on.

7. Who uses renewable microgrids? Pro-lifers.

Crowd of people at a climate protest holding signs with slogans such as, "Fight climate change or die frying" and "Don't be a fossil fool. Act now."

Pro-lifers are people who use renewable microgrids to save us from the Climate Crisis.

Offering new path forward

We’re on track for global catastrophe caused by climate change in the coming decades. But it’s not fate. That doesn’t have to be our future.

No one person can stop the escalating human-made climate crisis, but we can all fight against it.

Pro-lifers have taken this to heart and decided to use renewable microgrids to power their lives with clean energy, create a more harmonious future, and adapt to the new extreme weather we’re already experiencing.

The current climate trends

Cleopatra ruled Egypt the last time temperatures rose as much as they have over the past 50 years. More troublingly, the Earth hasn’t been this hot since before the last ice age.

The Earth’s heating has been directly caused by us burning ever more fossil fuels since the industrial revolution began in the 1850s.

Chart recording the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past 1000 years. It shows that since 1920, the levels are over 100x higher than they've been at any point in the last 1000 years. — Atmospheric CO2 is 100x higher than at any point in the last 1000 years.

Chart showing global temperature from 1880-2001. Chart shows the trend of increasing temperatures over time, with a rapid increase since the 1990s. — Global temperatures have increased as we’ve increased burning fossil fuels.

If we immediately take drastic action to stop burning fossil fuels, it’s still likely too late to save 1 in 10 people and 570 cities from regular flooding in less than 30 years.

Many towns, and likely some countries, will be wiped off the map by 2050. The U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts are particularly vulnerable. New York and Miami join Shanghai and Bangkok among the world’s major cities that will most frequently flood.

Unfortunately though the impacts aren’t just in the future. Fossil fuel pollution will kill over 8 million of us this year. People living in small industrial towns in Asia, Chile, and Italy are particularly exposed to this air pollution, as well as those living in cosmopolitan cities like Deli, Hanoi, Dubai, and Shanghai.

Electrifying everything can prevent a climate catastrophe

In the Energy Gang’s podcast episode, A Wartime Plan for Electrifying America, Saul Griffith of Rewiring America walks through how we can prevent the climate from warming 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures.

Among the numerous tragic repurcussions triggered by exceeding 2°C, coral reefs will disappear, heatwaves will frequently last for months, and mass migrations will occur across the globe to escape drought, fires, and famine.

Thankfully, Saul has crafted a plan that can keep warming below 2°C. It’s the first time I’ve seen an option that limits warming below catastrophic levels and is technically feasible while improving our quality of life.

The plan is to “electrify everything.”

Saul calculated that if all the fossil fuel-burning machines in existence today operate for their entire working life, then we’ll lock in 1.8°C of global warming. So if we upgrade all of these machines to electric ones once they need replacement, and get our electricity from renewable sources, we’ll avoid the destruction of 2 °C warming.

The power of clean electricity

Today, most climate-warming emissions come from our transport, businesses, and homes. Powering yours with renewable microgrids means you’ve essentially eliminated your climate-changing emissions and can reap the numerous benefits we’ve discussed.

Renewable microgrid powered Bron Yr Aur (Welsh Cottage).

The Welsh family living in the Bron Yr Aur where Led Zepplin wrote Stairway to Heaven made their home emission-free, and are prospering from it. The cottage is powered vy a wind, solar, and hydro-powered microgrid, which saves $16,000/year on energy bills.

For perspective on how much pollution this single renewable microgrid prevents, consider that each year a Welsh family of 4 consumes as much electricity as is produced by burning 100,000 pounds (lbs.) of coal or 200 barrels of oil each year. In Brazil, that same family consumes over 100 oil barrels; in China 180; and U.S., families-of-4 consume over 500 barrels annually.

A recent study from the University College of England shows that we’ll limit global warming to 1.5°C if by 2050 we can leave 60% of the earth’s remaining oil and almost all of its coal in the ground.

Keeping warming below 2°C is necessary for our survival. Managing to keep it below 1.5°C means we’ll prevent massive global suffering.

So, will we start powering our lives with clean electricity soon enough to save our children and grandchildren from a world we’re ashamed to leave behind?

We can. It’s up to us. We can start today by starting to generate our own clean electricity with renewable microgrids.

Aerial view of 4 houses on a street where 3 are powered by solar microgrids. — A neighborhood powered by solar microgrids.

Adapting to the intensifying weather

At the same time that we’re creating a cleaner, safer future, we need to recognize the reality that we’ve already created extreme weather that will continue to intensify for decades. It requires us adjust, adapt and become more reslient so we can survive and thrive in this new world.

Societies built utility grids to more reliably provide us with critical services. But these days, grids’ centralized networks and outdated infrastructure make us increasingly vulnerable. Many weren’t built to withstand strong winds, severe droughts, powerful blizzards, and the other extreme weather that we now regularly experience.

Forward-thinking utility companies are adding microgrids to the grid to make their networks less centralized and more resilient. Many of these electric utilities also started deploying mobile microgrids when weather prevents the grid from servicing a region.

Renewable microgrids generate clean electricity, reducing the fossil fuel emissions that make weather more extreme. And when extreme weather events occur, these microgrids often offer the most reliable electricity.

Renewable microgrids’ ability to self-power indefinitely frees you from depending on an outside network. Having one means you can keep the lights on, refrigerate food, stay cool (or warm), contact emergency services, and follow local news regardless of what’s happening outside.

That’s invaluable when thunderstorms knock out power lines, as happened twice while writing this. Or when the utility company cuts off power to your town, as my coworker experienced when wildfires blazed nearby.

The Electric Islands community

Most people aren’t even aware that renewable microgrids exist. Let alone who uses renewable microgrids.

Yet almost all of us belong to at least 1 of the groups identified. And, it’s a broad spectrum of humanity who can benefit from energy independence. This has convinced me that by 2030 almost everyone will own at least one renewable microgrid.

For now, you’ve joined the small but growing and culture-shaping community that recognizes electric islands are at the forefront of this century’s energy evolution.

We’re ahead of the pack in recognizing that the world is quickly moving to a fully electrified world powered by decentralized networks and clean electricity.

There are benefits to being ahead of the pack. Here are a few ways to take advantage of them…

Impress friends with your own electric island

When you’ve cut your energy bills, lit up a campsite, or provided refuge during an outage, those around take notice.

Create your own electric island with renewable microgrids from these companies:

Energy Sage is one of the best places online to compare quotes from local providers of microgrids for homes, businesses, and facilities.

LuminAID and Goal Zero offer portable solar microgrids perfect for your backpack, vehicle, or apartment.

Leapfrog past the grid

1 in 7 of us doesn’t have electricity at home. Renewable microgrids are distributed energy resources, so this no longer has to be our reality. Now it’s not up to governments and corporations if we can access their energy. We can leapfrog the grid.

Get in touch with organizations like Ilumexico and Empowered By Light to support leapfrogging and leapfroggers.

Ilumexico is a beautiful example of young people using renewable microgrids to address energy inequality in Latin America. They’ve electrified thousands of homes, creating a model for expanding energy access to remote and lower-income communities from a broad cultural range.

Stay ahead of the pack

Knowledge is power. Follow these sources to have the latest information on renewable microgrids:

Microgrid Knowledge is an authority on conventional and renewable microgrids powering businesses and extensive facilities.

Greentech Media is one of the most trusted sources of clean energy news. Their microgrid newsfeed is a great place to track news and current events.

And, of course, join the Electric Islands mailing list and follow us on social media for remarkable microgrid content sent directly to you.