A single grid powers your house. The energy from giant power plants is directly deposited into the national grid. From there, it gets distributed to the consumers.
What happens when this central grid fails? Many homes are left in darkness!
A microgrid is an energy system that can power small communities.
What is a Solar Microgrid?
Microgrids, distributed energy systems powered by fossil fuels or renewable energy sources, are decentralized. A large number of microgrids are solar-powered systems.
These structures are not significant. Most microgrids range from 100kW to a few MHT1_ and serve a small area.
Microgrids can be used with or without the primary grid. When you integrate energy storage systems in the microgrid, it can be fully independent. Solar Microgrids use hybrid or off-grid solar inverters for this.
Why do we Need Microgrids?
A microgrid is a way to ensure power 24×7 in the event of grid failure due to weather, human error, or unforeseeable circumstances.
Microgrids are especially valuable during natural disasters when the primary grid is unreliable. Access to electricity is a significant advantage in such situations for rescue operations.
Promoting Renewable Energy
The conventional electricity supply is unstable. Solar energy is becoming more popular.
Solar power is only available during daylight hours. We need a storage system to store Gigawatts to ensure a 24/7 energy supply. Currently, this is not possible.
Storage for small-scale plants is also available. Microgrids make it easier to switch from RE resources to microgrids.
Accessible
A localized energy system can provide a reliable energy supply in remote areas where grid infrastructure is not present.
Businesses in urban areas can opt to use microgrids for their power needs.
What are they?
Solar panels can be mounted in a solar farm or installed on buildings within the territory.
The panels transfer the energy to a central controller. This is a smart device that can manage the distribution process. It can also switch between different input sources.
The excess power is stored in the battery, which discharges during power outages or the night.
Cost-Effective
It is much easier to install renewable energy systems than grid infrastructure. Solar technology has become more affordable in recent years.
Microgrids offer a cost-effective alternative to conventional electricity.
Reliable
Microgrid is a system that can include solar panels, windmills, biogas and diesel generators. If the solar energy is insufficient to meet demand, then the controller can use other energy sources to compensate.
It ensures a reliable and consistent power supply.
Rural Communities are Reached
Many rural communities need more reliable grid electricity. However, they have localized resources like solar and wind that can be converted into energy. A microgrid allows villages to harness their local resources in order to provide cleaner, more reliable, and cheaper power for all community members.
Grid stability is improved.
Microgrids can meet the demand for small geographic areas at peak times, reducing the load on the national grid.
Scalable Structure
Due to space and resource limitations, it is challenging to expand solar power systems individually. Microgrids are scalable to meet the growing power demand.
Reduced power costs
Solar energy is cost-effective and eliminates the requirement for extensive transmission and delivery infrastructure. Customers can therefore enjoy lower electricity prices compared with conventional energy sources.
Micro Grids In India
In India, decentralized energy systems have considerable scope in urban and rural settings. The electricity tariffs are increasing, and grid power has become more unstable. Last year, the country experienced a shortage of coal.
Microgrids that enhance grid power in urban areas or improve access to energy in rural areas can be viable solutions.
In addition, the different Indian states have policies for expanding the microgrids network.
According to a new study, India’sIndia’s microgrid industry will reach $2500 million in revenue before 2028. This projected growth is mainly due to the Indian government’sgovernment’s promotion of renewable energies.
There are different policies in India for expanding the Microgrid network.
Umang Solar Inverters For Solar Micro-Grids
Businesses and residential communities can use Umang Off-Grid and Hybrid solar inverters to set up solar microgrids.
The transformer-less devices are small, quiet and use pure sinewave technology for the best performance.
The intelligent inverter is made in India and has the highest efficiency available in the industry. (Up to 96%) This results in minimal power loss and a longer backup.
Additional benefits include
Built-in MPPT Solar Charger
Built-in Wi-Fi for mobile monitoring
Overload and Short-circuit Protection