The energy system of the future is digitized, decentralized, and decarbonized – and puts the customer first. This trend is global and is being driven by rapid advances in technologies including solar PV, electric vehicles, and smarter controls.
This new model will break down the old, linear, mono-directional grid into a new, multi-directional mesh network of consumption, generation, and storage nodes which all transact with each other on the grid. All over the world, the building block of this future grid will be the microgrid.
Microgrids are evolving as the fundamental building block of this future grid, all over the world. Corporate offices in the US, football stadiums in Europe, and villages in Africa are all turning to microgrids to provide them a smart, clean, modular solution which is fully interoperable with the broader grid.
In Africa, we have the opportunity to leapfrog the old grid, and build the energy system of the future today through smart microgrids. At PowerGen we are using these systems to achieve our two-part vision…
- Building the system of the future in Africa
- Bringing energy access to all
How does a PowerGen microgrid work?
Our solar generators produce clean energy which they store in batteries and dispatches to a grid network, which connects homes, businesses, and other facilities. Those customers pre-pay for power through their phones using mobile money, or through local agents who collect their cash. PowerGen teams remotely monitor the sites, and provide customer service to resolve any issues that might come up on the grid.
If and when the main grid comes, PowerGen grids are ready to connect! We can then sell power to, or buy power from, the main grid. In this way we are building the smart, multi-directional grid of the future from the grid edge inwards in Africa.