Node One

Located near the garage in the southwestern corner of the farm, Node 1 connects three of the property’s seven electrical services, two of them 480V/3P 200 amps (200A) and one 240V/1P 400A. Despite considerable shade, a 20-panel solar array contributes power at a rate of 5kW.

Three Emerson ASCO 7000 series automatic transfer switches (ATSs) are “gatekeepers” that can automatically or manually connect the MicroGrid to or disconnect it from the utility grid.

A natural gas/hydrogen-fired 65kW Capstone microturbine, basically a stationary jet engine, provides backup power within three minutes. This triple redundancy asset can function in a master role during island mode. Because it performs more efficiently at high rpms and is designed for long-term operation, its use is prioritized behind solar arrays, batteries, and fuel cells.

Exhaust heat from the microturbine is captured for a hydronic (liquid heat and cold transfer) plant capable of heating four buildings and two swimming pools. This is a tri-generation or combined cooling, heating, power (CCHP) plant. Read more

Nearby, seven 3.4kW SimpliPhi Power lithium ferro phosphate batteries, connected in a 23.8kW/45kWh stack with a 280V/3P SMA Sunny Island System inverter, protect Critical Grid functions at the Zen spa and observatory.

The garage roof has 20 solar panels producing 5kW, while the Zen spa array totals 68 panels that generate 19kW.

Node Two

Set between the shop and the Butler building on the farm’s southwestern side, this node joins two 480V/3P circuits.

Here, an Eaton computerized panel provides power management with breakers operated by the control system. This panel can manually or automatically shed non-critical loads instantly and in order of priority for three minutes while the microturbine fires up to provide backup power.

The Aquion Energy sodium ion battery consists of a string of eight 48V M-Line battery modules connected in series and combined by a 30kW Ideal Power AC/DC power conversion system into one 384V string. The 16KW/100kWh battery’s electrolyte is essentially seawater.

In the Butler building are Critical Grid servers, backed up by a stack of eight  Sony lithium iron phosphate batteries with a combined rate and capacity of 2.4kW/9.6kWh, paired with a 6kW 120V Outback inverter. On the roof, 36 solar panels generate 9kW.

Node Three

Tesla Powerpack stack

This node has switching for 240V/1P 400A services to each of three houses – called Guest, Glide, and Gate – on the eastern side of the farm. The 61 solar panels on these homes together contribute 16 kW, while the auto barn/office arrays have 189 panels, and the dining barn/auto barn-2 arrays a combined 56, for a total of 306 panels and 98kW. 

Simpliphi AccEss battery

Close by are five stacks of 16 trays each inside white cabinets, the same Tesla lithium ion batteries that power the manufacturer’s cars. This Powerpack, with its 250kW/475kWh rate and capacity, delivers substantial power in a short amount of time through a 250kW Dynapower inverter. When the MicroGrid operates in island mode, the Tesla battery can generate its own 60-Hertz cycles, serving in a master, or grid-forming, role.

Maintaining the Critical Grid here is a stack of three 3.5kWh 48V SimpliPhi AccESS lithium ferro phosphate batteries that produce 5.7kW/10.5kWh output and capacity with a 6.8kWh Schneider inverter with charge controller.

A 10kWh 240V LG Chem RESU lithium ion battery with a 9.8kW Solaredge SE 7600A inverter provides additional backup, delivering considerable power quickly for short periods of time to accommodate peak loads.

Node Four

Near the chicken coop at the farm’s north end is a 480V/3P junction where power flows from a solar-panel rich environment to the tree-shaded but power-demanding south. With real-time monitoring, motorized mechanical breakers here can be remotely controlled to divert power to consumption areas or shut down high voltage in case of fire or other emergency.

DER Plant

On a spur of land in the farm’s northwest corner, the distributed energy resource (DER) power plant can be electrically isolated for special study purposes.

The single point of common coupling (PCC) with the utility grid is where we monitor our entire system as one entity, measuring each of multiple assets running, and where electricity can be imported or exported.  

The ATS here, a specially developed Emerson ASCO Microgrid Actuation Circuit, appropriately called the “MAC switch,” measures power quality. If voltage and frequency are normal on the utility grid, that connection is maintained. If not, the switch looks for voltage and frequency on the emergency (MicroGrid) side and, finding it, first synchronizes them before switching to island mode. This switch can either be controlled or operated automatically

Located here as well are California Independent Service Operator (CA ISO) and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) service meters, and a Schweitzer relay, an extremely fast safety device that protects people working on the grid. The ag shed roof holds a 123-panel solar array that generates 29kW.

The new 120kW/26kWh, 480V SimpliPhi Power high-voltage lithium ferro phosphate battery being installed comprises eight cabinets each containing a rack of ten high-voltage 3.6kWh 24V battery modules wired in series with a second rack to form a string of 20. Each string is matched with a Battery Management System (BMS). In island mode, this battery can also function as a master, using the same 250kW Dynapower inverter as the Tesla Powerpack. This multi-master status provides redundancy and resilience with no single point of failure in island mode. 

Hydrogen Park

The hydrogen park includes fuel cell hives, a hydrogen storage and fueling station, and a major installation in progress, an electrolyzer.

The park is a system “round trip,” a complete cycle of electricity starting with surplus solar panel generation that powers the electrolyzer that produces hydrogen gas stored for eventual use in fuel cells that provide electricity for the trunk line or electric cars.

About H2

• Most plentiful element
• Lightest element: 1 proton, 1 electron
• Rises in the atmosphere at 45 mph
• Use has zero environmental impact
• Fuel cell process byproduct is water
• Safer than gasoline, diesel, natural gas
• NASA uses as an energy carrier

Bulk H₂ transfer module

The Areva H2 Gen/Giner Electrolyzer container holds three Giner ELX Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) stacks with the balance of plant – including wiring, electronics, water filtration/demineralization, and hydrogen dryer  -- provided by Areva.

After batteries are fully charged, this load uses surplus solar-generated electricity to split water into two non-greenhouse gases, oxygen and hydrogen. The latter can be stored indefinitely without degrading and accessed immediately to power fuel cells. This electrolyzer is “spoolable.” Its output adjusts to match the level of overproduction from solar arrays.

Hydrogen run through the PlugPower ReliOn fuel cell hives reverses the electrolysis process to create electricity on demand. The three hive cabinets each contain a stack of four 2.33kW units, totaling 28kW. If a unit fails, it is easily replaced. The fuel cells feed a 30KW Siemens Sinamics DC/DC converter that boosts voltage for an Ideal Power 30kW inverter, which sends 480VAC/3P to the trunk line.

The farm’s base load at night without irrigation running is 15kW. Our largest (20hp) water pump can consume up to 30kW of power, but it is equipped with a variable frequency drive (VFD) and can spool up and down.

Six smaller pumps, all run along with the largest one, theoretically could spike power use at 50kW, but their use is staggered, and three of them have VFDs. An electrical vehicle (EV) charging station also can consume 30kW. We calculate our maximum load at about 100 kW.

Our system follows the base load at night. If something turns on, the hive activates more fuel cells. SimpliPhi 3.5kW lithium ferro phosphate batteries “buffer,” or provide voltage support, for the cells.

Hydrogen is stored at 6,500 and 10,000 psi in 48 1kg tanks, and at 800 psi in bulk storage on a gas transfer module that holds 200 kg. Our goal is to store 500 kg to serve as a buffer during winter.

Hydrogen also powers our fuel cell-equipped vehicles, Toyota Mirai and Honda Clarity cars. A Millennium Reign Energy fueling station fills their tanks in a few minutes. In both fuel cell applications, hives and cars, the byproduct is pure water with zero carbon emissions.