The U.S. higher education system ranks as the strongest in the world, besting all other countries because of its breadth of exceptional institutions and its reach to such a large percentage of the nation’s youth. Still, it faces some significant headwinds, not the least of which is the increased demand for new infrastructure in the face of leveling … [Read more...]
Preparing the Next Generation: Microgrids as an Energy and Educational Resource for Universities
Review examples of how university microgrids are utilized as an energy and educational resource for today's universities, as well as preparing the next generation for the future of energy and climate change. Preparing the Next Generation: Microgrids as an Energy and Educational Resource for Universities Moderator: Bill Kipnis (Siemens … [Read more...]
The Rise of Clean Energy Microgrids & Why They Make Sense
Interest is rising in clean energy microgrids, especially within healthcare, higher education, government and business. What’s the attraction? All microgrids offer greater electric reliability. But the clean energy microgrid does more. It also reduces carbon emissions and helps organizations reach sustainability goals—an achievement increasingly … [Read more...]
New Drivers for Campus Microgrids: Resiliency, Community, Research, Jobs & Cost Savings
Colleges and universities were among the first to adopt microgrid technology in North America. Initially they did so to ensure electric reliability on a grid that had yet to fully develop. Today, a new generation of campus microgrid development is underway, as it becomes clear the technology solves other problems unique to our … [Read more...]
Microgrid Evolution Fuels Smarter Energy Management
Smarter energy management delivers reliability, efficiency and cost savings. From the time when our alarm goes off in the morning to when we turn the lights off at night, we use electrical power. In terms of magnitude, each person in the U.S. spends around $3,052 on electricity (2012 figures). With a population of about 314 million people at the … [Read more...]
Making Microgrids Work to Advance Power Resiliency
According to a recent Microgrid Knowledge study power resiliency is one of the top 3 reasons organizations and communities install a microgrid. Factors such as increasing occurrences of natural disasters, the ongoing threat of cyber attacks and growing awareness of inadequate, outdated or failing grid infrastructure all drive microgrid adoption. … [Read more...]
How to Design and Operate a Microgrid
This paper describes how to design and operate a microgrid by examining a microgrid installed for the US Department of Defense at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The microgrid is composed of two natural gas generators, a battery energy storage inverter, renewables, and a static switch. Design considerations for this retrofit application with a high … [Read more...]
Microgrid Knowledge Special Report on Healthcare Microgrids
The senior population is on a path to double in the U.S, and even triple in Europe. This creates pressure to expand hospitals, healthcare networks, assisted living facilities, adult day care and nursing homes. Thus the reason for learning more about the value of Healthcare Microgrids. Add advances in medical technology, which result in new … [Read more...]
Special Report on Fuel Cell Microgrids
Fuel cell microgrids are on the rise, the result of a natural pairing of two technologies-fuel cells and microgrids- that serve a mutual mission. Together, they meet today’s demand for energy that is cost-competitive, highly reliable, clean, quiet, contained, modular, scalable and community-friendly. Once futuristic, both technologies find … [Read more...]
Evaluating business models for microgrids: Interactions of technology and policy
Policy makers are increasingly focused on strategies to decentralize the electricity grid. We analyze the business model for one mode of decentralization-microgrids-and quantify the economics for self-supply of electricity and thermal energy and explicitly resolve technological as well as policy variables. We offer a tool, based on the Distributed … [Read more...]
