Buy Online
Natural disasters, surges in demand and cyberattacks continue to threaten the reliability of the power grid. Consequently, communities and commercial enterprises are making power supply investments to ensure operational continuity. According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the number of microgrids in the U.S. grew by approximately 130% from 2015 to 2024. Would a microgrid be a viable solution for your operation? Here’s a brief overview of their capabilities and applications.
1. How do microgrids work?
There are two types of microgrids: continuous and conditional. Continuous microgrids provide power 24/7, even during a utility grid outage. Conditional microgrids only supply power during specific events or outages. Continuous microgrids tend to be larger than conditional microgrids. In addition to improving electric reliability and resilience, microgrids can generate revenue through excess power sold back to the grid.
2. What energy resources do microgrids use to supply power?
Microgrids can use a combination of distributed energy resources (DER), including renewable sources such as solar, hydro, fuel cells, combined heat and power (CHP) and batteries, as well as conventional resources like diesel or natural gas generators.
3. What applications are using microgrids?
Many operations vital to public health and safety, such as hospitals, fire stations, wastewater treatment facilities, data centers and the military have added microgrids. Industrial applications such as mining and oil and gas also use them. Retail operations are beginning to pursue them as well. Buc-ee’s, H-E-B, Alltown Fresh, Walmart and Chick-fil-A are among early adopters.
Visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Microgrid Installations page to view a database of microgrid installations throughout the continental U.S.
