More Businesses Are Adopting Their Own Renewable Power Sources
Interest in microgrids has soared as aging infrastructure has fallen behind with rising population that is hooked on digital conveniences.
What Is A Microgrid?
A microgrid is a localized grid with its own power generation resources, its own loads and definable boundaries. It acts as a single controllable entity.
A microgrid can also either operate independently of the utility or can work in conjunction with a utility.
Another common term you will hear is renewable energy. Renewable energy that comes from resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. This is energy coming from wind turbines, solar power, hydro and biogas.
The final term to be familiar with is hybrid power. For Foley Power Solutions, hybrid power is the combination of two or more different types of sources of energy at a single installation. This could be combinations like diesel generator sets, photovoltaic (PV) to PV and energy storage coupled with gas generator sets.
How Microgrids Help Grids
Interest in microgrids has soared as aging infrastructure has fallen behind with rising population that is hooked on digital conveniences. The digital needs of the masses have only increased during the pandemic as more schools and companies have sent people home.
Widespread blackouts from weather, natural disasters and other causes have laid bare the grids vulnerabilities. In February 2021, the massive Texas power outage caused by a deadly winter storm left many without electricity for days in extreme cold.
Roughly 4 million people in Texas dealt with outage for most of the week. This led to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state’s power grid, to administer rolling blackouts throughout the Midwest to avoid a grid failure. Why? Simply put, the grid reached the point where the demand for electricity was exceeding the available supply. These temporary, shared outages eased the pressure on the grid to keep it from collapsing. Microgrids offer increased system resiliency – the combination of multiple energy sources can provide redundancy if one source is not available.
Microgrids can also be designed to provided energy from the most cost effective power source. So, if your installation has a utility, solar energy, and energy storage available, the system can automatically increase the contribution from the solar to enable saving money.
While Texas microgrids are few, they were leveraged during this crisis. Microgrids across the state immediately kicked on, which reduced the demand on the grid. Had there been more microgrids, the impact would not have been as severe as they would have been a resource for utilities during this emergency. In normal circumstances, the excess energy generated from a microgrid can be sold back to utility companies.
“Keeping the power on during extreme weather conditions and other electric grid disruptions is essential, particularly so that critical facilities such as hospitals, data centers, telecommunications and water treatment plants can continue to operate,” says James Kerschinske, Sales Manager for Foley Power Solutions.
New Technologies & Government Incentives Lower Microgrid Costs
Another reason companies across the United States are choosing microgrids is that the price of solar has been dropping significantly over the last twenty years. When combined with government incentives, like the Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC) of 26%, you can understand why solar energy is one of the fastest growing sources of energy.
Much like solar, the lithium ion batteries that are the primary component of an energy storage solution have fallen in price with prices projected to continue falling. This is driving the current interest in the industry for large scale energy storage solutions, which will help drive the prices even lower. A microgrid can provide power to remote locations. Power can be provided from a simple system that consists of a diesel generator set to a hybrid system consisting of solar, energy storage and a back-up generator set.
Power hungry companies like data centers, universities and business centers can save a lot of money by adopting microgrids.
How Foley Power Solutions Can Help
“Our knowledge of generator sets and distributed power combined with the strength of the Cat dealer network provides customers with a reliable, long-term business partner,” said James Kerschinske, Power Solutions sales manager. “Together with Cat Hybrid Solutions, Foley delivers an innovative, financially viable solution to incorporate sustainable energy sources, like solar and energy storage battery systems, into traditional power generation offerings.”
As the power generation industry evolves towards a broader range of energy solutions, Foley Power Solutions is helping lead the way.