10 Most-Read Articles on Microgrid Knowledge in 2018

Dec. 20, 2018
Our annual most-read microgrid articles list, a compilation of those that attracted the highest number of pageviews, offers insight into some of the big events and trends of the year. Here are the companies and organizations featured.

Our annual most-read microgrid articles list, a compilation of those that attracted the highest number of pageviews, offers insight into some of the big events and trends of the year.

Two of the top 10 most-read microgrid articles were about Puerto Rico’s rebuild. Photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Institute

Topics that captured reader attention included solar microgrids, microgrid costs, Puerto Rico’s rebuild, energy storage, new microgrid projects and players, DC microgrids, utility business models and power-to-gas conversion.

Companies and organizations featured in the top 10 articles include ABB, Allegheny County Airport Authority, Commonwealth Edison, Edison Electric Institute, EMerge Alliance, Footprint, Kilowatt Labs, Puerto Rico Energy Commission, Rocky Mountain Institute, Rolls Royce, S&C Electric,  Smart Electric Power Alliance, Hitachi, Puerto Rico Industrial Development Corp., Siemens, Smarter Grid Solutions, University of Pittsburgh and US Passive House Institute.

Most-read microgrid articles 

 1. Solar is Good. Solar Microgrids are Better

This article is becoming a classic. First published in 2016, it keeps making our top 10 lists and in fact topped the list this year. Apparently it is still a surprise to many when they learn that their grid-connected solar panels can _not_ keep the lights on during a power outage.

2. What does a Microgrid Cost?

Another classic published over two years ago, this story explores the range of prices for microgrids. Just as houses span from builder basic to celebrity mansion, microgrids range in size and sophistication.

3. Power-to-Gas in Microgrids: Competitive with Batteries?

Power-to-gas, a technology that converts excess renewable energy to gases that can be stored, is cost-competitive with lithium-ion batteries in microgrids, according to Matt Gregori, technology development manager, Southern California Gas.

4. Shouldn’t We Have More DC Microgrids?

Direct current (DC) microgrids offer a lot of advantages in today’s digitally networked, electrified world. Yet they face challenges gaining acceptance on the US grid where alternating current (AC) dominates.

5. Puerto Rico Seeks Developers for Five Industrial Microgrids

Puerto Rico continues to make good on its promise to rebuild with microgrids, issuing five solicitations in 2018 for industrial microgrids that can operate independently from the grid indefinitely

6. What Will Become of the Electric Utility in the Age of Microgrids?

What’s an electric utility? Better yet, what will it become? Those questions nag utilities — and their competitors — as technology disrupts the century-old power industry

7. The Microgrid Way: Going Green with Solar & Supercapacitor-based Energy Storage

If utilities offered their customers solar energy and took advantage of supercapacitor-based energy storage, we could significantly cut greenhouse-gas emissions.

8, Here Comes the Rolls-Royce of Microgrids. Literally.

Yet another global name is expanding its microgrid play — Rolls-Royce — with the announcement that it has taken a stake in an energy storage and controls startup and will now offer turnkey microgrids.

Plane flying over Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by By cate_89/Shutterstock.com

9. Avoiding the Fate of Atlanta, Pittsburgh Looks to Build an Airport Microgrid

Pittsburgh wants an airport microgrid. And developers — a lot of them — want to build it.

10. Puerto Rico Issues Final Microgrid Rules as Hurricane Season Looms

Puerto Rico regulators  issued final microgrid rules to help boost development, as the island continues to struggle to recover from last September’s island-wide power outage following Hurricane Maria.

These were the most-read articles among 3,200 that have been published on Microgrid Knowledge. Receive our news twice weekly by subscribing to the free Microgrid Knowledge Newsletter.

About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

Twitter: @ElisaWood

LinkedIn: Elisa Wood

Facebook:  Microgrids

Related Content

ABB_logo

ABB

Aug. 24, 2016
ABB is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while...

microgridelectricaldesign

Designing Microgrids: Evaluating Parameters for Reliable, Cost-Effective and Optimized Power Solutions

Dec. 7, 2023
Shawn Dalke electrical engineer at Mesa Solutions discusses load profiles and power sources for microgrids.

MGK_PowerSecureCover_2021-07-28_7-54-20

‘Advanced Microgrids’ Provide Advanced Solutions

This white paper from PowerSecure looks at how advanced microgrids, designed with an understanding of the dynamics and evolution of the modern power grid, can create extraordinary...