On the outside, Missouri S&T’s Solar Village looks like a simple neighborhood of houses with solar panels on their roofs. However, these photovoltaic arrays are part of a complex system of energy sharing based on distributed power generation. Housing all the essential machinery is the village’s microgrid, a localized source of electricity generation.
The microgrid manages and stores renewable energy for the four student-built solar houses. The unit holds all the necessary components, including two lithium battery racks for energy storage, a power converter, and software and hardware for its intelligence system.
More than a power source, the microgrid is also a research instrument.
Reviewed 2015-02-09