Winter preparedness for some includes more than traditional weatherization methods like adding insulation and servicing hvac units. Increasingly, more businesses, nonprofits and individuals are establishing their own on-site solar energy production with battery storage and even generator backups.
This ability to keep manufacturing plants running, warehouses climate-controlled and venues comfortable through winter grid outages are examples of how Distributed Energy Resources or DERs add resilience.
Frigid winter weather can always bring challenges. PowerOutage.us tracked more than six million electric customers losing power at one time or another during 2022 winter storms. An extreme winter storm in Texas meant 246 lives lost in early 2021, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. 161 of those deaths are documented as “extreme cold exposure-related injuries,” – freezing to death.
DERs are the topic of a special report by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity, explaining that our electricity will not always come from a centralized grid, and that the time for improvements is now.
The article titled Distribution System Evolution explained: “In the past 15 years, this industry has seen considerable advancements in consumer technology, including DERs and federal and state policies enabling DER use and grid modernization across the United States. State regulations, wholesale electricity markets and utilities are striving to catch up with innovation at the grid edge while dealing with an apparent inflection point in climate-related grid resilience and reliability challenges.”
That report mentions that along with this need for distributed energy sources, updated reliability standards involving clean energy sources are now in place from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Curious how DERs could work in your community? Check on interconnection guidelines with your local power company and find a reliable provider who designs renewable energy and storage systems.
Anne Brock is marketing coordinator for Solar Alliance, which designs and manages solar installation projects for large manufacturers and small businesses. You can reach her at abrock@solaralliance.com or 865-221-8349.
