Our annual most-read microgrid articles list, a compilation of those that attracted the highest number of pageviews, offers insight into some of the big events and trends of the year.
Two of the top 10 most-read microgrid articles were about Puerto Rico’s rebuild. Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Institute
Topics that captured reader attention included solar microgrids, microgrid costs, Puerto Rico’s rebuild, energy storage, new microgrid projects and players, DC microgrids, utility business models and power-to-gas conversion.
Companies and organizations featured in the top 10 articles include ABB, Allegheny County Airport Authority, Commonwealth Edison, Edison Electric Institute, EMerge Alliance, Footprint, Kilowatt Labs, Puerto Rico Energy Commission, Rocky Mountain Institute, Rolls Royce, S&C Electric, Smart Electric Power Alliance, Hitachi, Puerto Rico Industrial Development Corp., Siemens, Smarter Grid Solutions, University of Pittsburgh and US Passive House Institute.
Most-read microgrid articles
1. Solar is Good. Solar Microgrids are Better
This article is becoming a classic. First published in 2016, it keeps making our top 10 lists and in fact topped the list this year. Apparently it is still a surprise to many when they learn that their grid-connected solar panels can _not_ keep the lights on during a power outage.
2. What does a Microgrid Cost?
Another classic published over two years ago, this story explores the range of prices for microgrids. Just as houses span from builder basic to celebrity mansion, microgrids range in size and sophistication.
3. Power-to-Gas in Microgrids: Competitive with Batteries?
Power-to-gas, a technology that converts excess renewable energy to gases that can be stored, is cost-competitive with lithium-ion batteries in microgrids, according to Matt Gregori, technology development manager, Southern California Gas.
4. Shouldn’t We Have More DC Microgrids?
Direct current (DC) microgrids offer a lot of advantages in today’s digitally networked, electrified world. Yet they face challenges gaining acceptance on the US grid where alternating current (AC) dominates.
5. Puerto Rico Seeks Developers for Five Industrial Microgrids
Puerto Rico continues to make good on its promise to rebuild with microgrids, issuing five solicitations in 2018 for industrial microgrids that can operate independently from the grid indefinitely
6. What Will Become of the Electric Utility in the Age of Microgrids?
What’s an electric utility? Better yet, what will it become? Those questions nag utilities — and their competitors — as technology disrupts the century-old power industry
7. The Microgrid Way: Going Green with Solar & Supercapacitor-based Energy Storage
If utilities offered their customers solar energy and took advantage of supercapacitor-based energy storage, we could significantly cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
8, Here Comes the Rolls-Royce of Microgrids. Literally.
Yet another global name is expanding its microgrid play — Rolls-Royce — with the announcement that it has taken a stake in an energy storage and controls startup and will now offer turnkey microgrids.
Plane flying over Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by By cate_89/Shutterstock.com
9. Avoiding the Fate of Atlanta, Pittsburgh Looks to Build an Airport Microgrid
Pittsburgh wants an airport microgrid. And developers — a lot of them — want to build it.
10. Puerto Rico Issues Final Microgrid Rules as Hurricane Season Looms
Puerto Rico regulators issued final microgrid rules to help boost development, as the island continues to struggle to recover from last September’s island-wide power outage following Hurricane Maria.
These were the most-read articles among 3,200 that have been published on Microgrid Knowledge. Receive our news twice weekly by subscribing to the free Microgrid Knowledge Newsletter.
