Creating Solar Microgrids for Clean Energy and Resilience – 2026 Update

Description:

Microgrids are self-sufficient energy systems that can utilize renewable resources like solar and wind to provide communities with local energy independence. Defined by their ability to operate autonomously from the traditional electric grid, microgrids offer a grassroots alternative to centralized power by enabling vulnerable communities to generate, store, and control their own energy. Microgrids are particularly beneficial for rural communities, urban centers with aging infrastructure, and historically under-resourced communities, all of whom are more susceptible to climate driven power outages and high energy costs.

Local implementation of microgrids provides pathways to economic predictability, increased renewable energy generating capacity, and critical service continuity that improves community resilience. Many utilities across the U.S. are partnering with municipalities, universities, Tribes and technology developers to deploy clean energy microgrids as non-emitting generating capacity additions.

Economic Predictability: Peak Shaving

By using battery storage for energy collected from sources like solar panels or wind turbines, microgrids can provide users with economic predictability and practical savings. Batteries can store energy gathered from renewable sources and discharge it during periods of high utility demand. This approach allows municipalities and organizations to drastically reduce spending on demand charges, fees based on their single high point of intensity during a billing cycle, by dispensing saved energy to mitigate the energy draw from the traditional power grid during high use periods. Ratepayers served by microgrids also benefit from peak shaving by using stored energy to avoid time of use charges that charge traditional power grid users more for power consumption during high energy use periods. By flattening spikes in energy consumption by supplementing energy usage with battery stored and renewably generated energy, microgrids transform simple energy resilience tools into stabilizing measures that shield community members from volatile price fluctuations inherent in traditional energy markets.

Renewable Energy Generation: Decarbonization

By prioritizing carbon-free energy sources like solar or wind, microgrids can serve as a tool for decarbonization. Renewable based microgrids can allow communities to significantly reduce or entirely displace the use of diesel powered backup generators, which are notorious for emitting high levels of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter during power outages. Beyond emergency usage, solar microgrids paired with battery storage can offset fossil-fuel generated electricity from the traditional grid, further reducing CO2 emissions associated with a community’s power supply. Microgrids can also increase energy efficiency by reducing energy losses as electricity travels along long powerline routes, making local energy microgrids inherently more efficient and sustainable.

Critical Service Continuity: Improved Resilience

Microgrids serve as a lifeline for communities by ensuring that essential community institutions like emergency shelters remain operational when the traditional power grid fails. Microgrids can also be programmed to sustain critically important services such as life saving medical equipment or community wide communications networks. By transforming local facilities like libraries, school gyms, etc. into energy resilient facilities, microgrids can help power these community hubs during extended power failures.

Update on Santa Barbara and Albuquerque microgrids:

The previous version of this webpage discussed microgrid projects underway in the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) and in Albuquerque Public Schools (APS).

As of 2026, SBUSD has completed 4.2 MW of solar energy across 14 sites, with six of those sites serving as smart microgrids, supported by 1.9 MW of battery storage. The project is estimated to save SBUSD $14 million over 28 years through a fixed-rate power purchase agreement and provides $7 million in value-of-resilience benefits to the community for free.

At APS, the solar plus storage project is now fully operational at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, featuring an 850 kW solar array and a 2.8 MWh Tesla Megapack system. The system is designed to reduce peak demand charges and allow the campus to act as a community resilience hub during regional outages. Atrisco Heritage Academy projects $3.5 million in savings on the school’s energy bill over the next 25 years.

Microgrid Deployment Continues:

This 2026 updated summary of solar microgrids includes several new community-driven microgrid projects that have gone from the planning stages to becoming fully operational in several U.S. locations.

• Bronzeville Community Microgrid:

The Chicago, Illinois, neighborhood of Bronzeville completed construction on a community microgrid in 2024. The Bronzeville Community Microgrid (BCM) was built in collaboration with ConEd and serves over 1000 Bronzeville residents. The BCM is powered by 750 kW of solar technology mounted both on community rooftops and on the ground, with 500 kW/2 MWh of battery energy storage. The BCM was partially funded by a Department of Energy grant. The BCM is also connected to a nearby microgrid at the Illinois Institute of Technology, creating one of the nation’s first microgrid clusters that enables sharing of resources between the two microgrids to further enhance energy resilience. The Bronzeville area is home to key pieces of community infrastructure, including the Chicago Public Safety Headquarters, the De La Salle Institute High School, a library, health clinics, and hubs for public transportation.

• California Tribal Energy Sovereignty Projects:

The Pala Band of Mission Indians occupy a 12,273-acre reservation northeast of San Diego. The reserve suffers from electric grid vulnerabilities like Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), earthquakes, and wildfires. In response to these emergency situations, the Pala Band of Mission Indians have built a microgrid comprising 1070 kilowatts (kW)  of solar systems and 10 kW of battery storage to provide autonomous operation of key tribal facilities in emergency situations. The added microgrid infrastructure will work in concert with 500.6 kW of separate existing battery assets. The Pala Band of Mission Indians microgrid supports essential facilities including the Pala Tribal Administration Building, the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the Pala Fire Department. The project aims to displace 102% of the Pala Band of Mission Indians’ electricity consumption at eight facilities with total estimated net energy cost savings of $6.4 million while displacing 930,000 pounds of CO2 emissions over the next 25 years. The project was initiated by a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians occupy a 4,665-acre reservation also northeast of San Diego. The Rincon Band reservation experiences multi-day PSPS outages and is located in a Tier 3 “Extreme” fire risk zone. To combat these grid issues, the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians developed its Strategic Energy and Resilience Plan in 2021 to achieve 80% reliance on renewable energy. The Tribe has completed a series of projects to this end including a 1 MW ground-mounted solar array. Anchoring the community’s civic infrastructure, the Government Center Microgrid uses a 290 kW solar carport array alongside 140 kW/560 kWh of battery storage to keep the reservation’s chief command center and electric vehicle charging network operational during grid emergencies. Microgrids have also been built to support the community’s fire station and other utilities.

The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, located north of San Dego, have incorporated microgrid technology in their community to isolate their electrical infrastructure. The Tribe had a microgrid installed that protects the Tribal Administration building, the Law Enforcement building, the Fire Department, and the Educational Center. The microgrid incorporates 184 kW solar canopy technology with existing rooftop solar systems, feeding general power into a smart 150 kW battery energy storage system. Additionally, the Tribe established a community solar deployment program that resulted in the installation of 83 rooftop and ground-mount PV systems totaling more than 230 kW of generating capacity and completed targeted energy efficiency upgrades in the Tribal Administration building.

• Oregon

The Southeast Salem Community Microgrid: Developed with a $1 million grant from the Oregon Department of Energy, this installation is Oregon’s first utility-connected community microgrid capable of powering multiple independent customers. The configuration connects a city-owned solar installation on the Public Works Building with an energy storage system located at PGE’s Salem Smart Power Center. Controlled by smart grid-edge software, the system can island dynamically during an outage to provide emergency backup power to the Public Works base, four municipal buildings, a local business, 34 standalone homes, and six apartment complex buildings totaling 96 residential units.

The Beaverton Public Safety Center Microgrid: Established in partnership with the City of Beaverton, this resilient node combines a solar carport array, a battery energy storage system (BESS), and a smart backup generator. Operating “behind-the-meter,” the microgrid offsets roughly 40% of the facility’s year-round electricity costs while maintaining seamless islanding capability. This ensures that emergency 911 dispatchers and public safety personnel remain online to coordinate relief efforts even if the surrounding grid collapses.

Goal: 

• create clean energy microgrids to improve community resilience and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other climate pollutants
• enhance community resilience
• provide more reliable electricity service