Intermittent Availability of Renewable Energy Requires Additional Considerations
The microgrid market is booming, but – interestingly – it’s difficult to obtain accurate stats for just how many projects are ongoing or have been completed. That’s because some of the projects are so small that they don’t generate much public interest or attention. However, it’s estimated (although this is likely a significant underestimation) that roughly 1,000 projects are underway at any given time in the United States – and almost half of these projects use at least one renewable energy source. The renewable energy source typically used is solar panels, while just over a quarter of projects utilize wind turbines.
While it’s safe to say that it would be better for the planet if all microgrid projects were 100% sourced by renewable energy, the fact remains that less than half of them utilize any renewable source.
This is likely because some renewable sources – such as solar and wind – can be intermittent and perhaps unreliable. The current landscape of society requires constant energy for businesses, homes, healthcare, education, and entertainment. But there are ways to overcome the fact that the sun isn’t always shining and that the wind isn’t always blowing – stored surplus energy.
By efficiently storing surplus energy during optimal conditions for use when resources are scarce or depleted, the microgrid system will be able to draw from the store when the source isn’t producing as much energy as needed.
Storage Capacity Improves Renewable Reliability
With renewable energy sources, it’s important to take into consideration that there are very often times when supply and demand do not match – and that storage components are integral to creating a solution that’s reliable and efficient. In a recent study by Navigant, only 184 of over 600 reviewed microgrids incorporated a storage component, such as lead-acid batteries, and those components only comprised roughly 2.6% of the total capacity of the systems.
As solar and wind sources are more regularly incorporated into microgrid planning, so too are battery storage options. In 2021, wind and solar generated 10% of the global energy, up from just 4.6% in 2015. This increase in renewable energy sources is leading to advancements in battery technology, with lithium-ion batteries being the state-of-the-art solution for most applications and an eye toward long-duration storage systems, such as redox flow or hydrogen storage.
Microgrids Add Resiliency To Existing Infrastructure
With solar and wind accounting for only 10% of the global energy supply, it will take some time for renewables to become our primary energy source. However, the steady year-over-year increases we’ve been witnessing highlight the improvements in both technology and adoption.
This increase in adoption not only acts as a primary energy source in some small areas but – on a larger scale – provides resilience to the pre-existing grid infrastructure so that it can handle surges in demand and offset costs when prices spike.
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