Elon Musk says he expects Tesla’s energy business will one day be equal to or exceed its automotive business. That day may be some time in the future but the company is clearly expanding its solar and battery operations rapidly, both for grid scale and residential applications.
Last week, Michael Snyder, Tesla’s director of engineering and construction for energy projects posted on Linked In, “If you like solving problems at the nexus of power systems interactions, protection coordination, system and product level controls, and DERs (Powerpacks, Megapacks, solar, and generators), check out the link below for a microgrid-focused product engineer. We have 120+ operational microgrids around the world with high impact to a variety of communities/customers. This is a unique and rewarding role.” That post was followed by a link to apply for a position with Tesla Energy.
According to E&E News, a microgrid is a cluster of energy generators — whether diesel or solar or wind powered — that serves nearby users such as a building or a campus. That cluster “islands” and keeps the lights on even if the regular grid around it blacks out, something that is happening more frequently because of severe storms, wildfires and floods associated with a warming climate. “If you look at the performance of the U.S. grid, it just gets worse and worse and worse,” says Peter Asmus, who studies microgrids as a research director at Guidehouse Insights.
Microgrids “do not always need to be considered bespoke engineering endeavors,” Snyder wrote. “The vast majority can be simplified and systematized into plug-and-play power systems.” He said Tesla microgrids are like its vehicles — modular and capable of over the air monitoring and updates. The same features included in a large solar microgrid in Australia are found in backup power plants for hospitals in Puerto Rico and isolated grids in rural Africa. “The variety and flexibility in application is staggering,” he said, then added that 1,000 Tesla microgrids are possible “in the not so distant future.” Wood Mackenzie says the United States installed 546 microgrids last year.
In September, microgrids in the US got a boost when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Order No. 2222, which allows energy from distributed resources like solar arrays and batteries to be sold into wholesale regional energy markets. “You definitely have an increase in momentum from all sides,” Asmus says.
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