Solar Powered Microgrid Community Project In The United States Has Just Got Approved In California

 

 

The United States is a land of great beauty and there is no doubt that its diverse geographical locations have something to do with its beauty. People living in the US have a lot to enjoy and one of the biggest is electricity. Most of the people in the country use the electricity generated by fossil fuel power plants.

However, solar power is getting the attention of every individual nowadays and many states in the US are investing in solar power generation because it can provide clean and free energy in a very short period of time.

One of the best states to invest in solar energy generation in California, and this is mainly due to two reasons. One is the state is the most populous and the second is that it has a very high temperature which makes the solar power plant efficient. In this regards a new solar powered  microgrid community project in the United States has just got approved in California.

The Department of Energy, SunPower, the University of California, Irvine, and other organizations are partners in the energy-efficient, all-electric, solar, and battery-powered new home announced by KB Home.

KB Home has introduced a brand-new resilient solar-powered microgrid community. The microgrid has solar panels, battery energy storage, and smart electric appliances that are all connected. The new homes are located in Menifee, California, which is inland between San Diego and Los Angeles.

In order to test the new, energy-efficient, and resilient homes at the Shadow Mountain master plan area in Menifee, KB Home is working with the U.S. Department of Energy, SunPower, the Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, Southern California Edison, Schneider Electric, and Kia.

Each home is outfitted with smart and microgrid technology, allowing the community to move the solar-generated electricity efficiently and when it is most required.

According to KB Home, the energy bills associated with its sustainable-design homes have together decreased by an estimated $856 million. The company calculates that it has so far prevented 6.3 billion pounds of carbon emissions, which is the same as removing 616,000 gas-powered vehicles from the road for a year.

The homebuilder has delivered over 14,000 solar homes, achieved 46 MW of solar power installed, and is currently working.

According to the University of Otago study, the widespread use of batteries significantly reduced the amount of infrastructure needed to meet demand by reducing both the energy load smoothing and peak demand. Combining smart storage allowed for a 50% decrease in per-house battery demands for load-smoothing and a 90% reduction in peak shaving needs.

The chairman, president, and CEO of KB Home, Jeffrey Mezger, stated, “We plan to explore how these energy-smart connected communities can help protect the environment and turn our homes into its own power centers built to provide resilience and lower overall long-term homeownership costs.”

 

 

The research will be done by the project’s collaborators to compare the energy efficiency of the energy-smart community to that of conventional residential solar communities. They will contribute to the creation of techniques that can better satisfy the demands of upcoming energy codes.

The partners will also strive to improve techniques for enhancing the effectiveness of smart connected devices cooperating with one another. Beyond the community’s initial growth, the study will continue.

KB Home listed the following as some advantages of the housing community:

• A possible 40% reduction in energy consumption.
• Backup energy for grid outages.
• Equipped with EV chargers, some localities are experimenting with bi-directional EV charging to increase resilience.
• A platform for real-time energy monitoring.
• Rooftop solar in the area.
• Every linked energy-smart home will receive certification as a DOE-designated Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH), demonstrating a high level of performance with strict guidelines based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star program.

For the benefit of our homebuyers, KB Home has been at the forefront of implementing cutting-edge technologies and energy solutions. Our all-electric, solar, and battery-powered homes in Oak Shade and Durango in Menifee, California, we feel have the potential to produce considerable energy savings in our drive of building better homes, better communities, and a better future,” said Mezger.

If the idea of the microgrid community is successful, then it can help to bring down electricity bills and this will make it easier for people in the United States to save money. In addition, if you are interested in investing in solar energy, then you need to be in California. The state is a huge market and there is a high demand for solar power because it can give good returns.