Systems and the future
Microgrid
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A local electrical network that links several buildings with batteries and their own generation, such as solar panels. It can work connected to the public grid or island itself from it.
Solves
What it solves
It keeps essentials running when the main grid goes down in a storm. It shares among buildings the energy that some overproduce and others need.
Today
Define which loads must stay on in a blackout and design the microgrid for them. Place batteries and panels in a dry, ventilated location outside flood-prone areas.
Common mistake
Installing panels on each building with no way to share energy or island when the grid goes down.
Tomorrow
A community hall, a school or a health center with a microgrid can be the neighborhood’s refuge after a hurricane. Its shared management among neighbors teaches how to care for energy as a common good.
Where it comes from
- 1First electrical networks New York, United States, 1882
The Pearl Street station produced electricity and heat for its neighborhood and is considered the first microgrid. - 2Community response Puerto Rico, 2017 and 2018
After Hurricane María, which destroyed about 80% of the power grid, twelve solar microgrids with batteries supplied power to more than 4,000 people.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Systems and the future
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.