Scale Microgrid Solutions is on a mission to make sophisticated microgrids as easy to deploy and finance as rooftop solar, said Timothy Hade, microgrid specialist for the company.
“Our thesis is that at scale, microgrids have all sorts of great technical aspects that can make our total energy system cleaner, cheaper and more reliable. But the challenge is how to make microgrid deployment as easy as rooftop solar deployment,” he said.
One of numerous challenges to getting more microgrid deployed: High skill levels are generally required. “Most of the projects that get done well are done by one of 50 or 60 different developers that can make these projects work,” he said.
But what if electrical contractors could deploy microgrids, in much the same way they can deploy rooftop solar right now?
“The thing that made rooftop solar take off: The industry made the process simple enough so that an electrical contractor who put time into learning could start offering rooftop installations,” he said.
Scale Microgrid’s farm example
Hade said his company aims to help the microgrid industry take off by offering both a simple, replicable system plus financing packages. Scale Microgrid, which was launched in 2015, now has three microgrid projects up and running. Two are projects the company took over from other developers. The Bowery Farming microgrid in New Jersey is its first new build.
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