The market for microgrids | Catalyst with Shayle Kann

Switchgear

Switchgear plays a crucial role in the functionality of microgrids, yet it faces significant supply chain challenges. Tim Hade highlights that the supply chain for switchgear, heavily reliant on China, was disrupted by COVID-19, leading to extended lead times from 20 weeks to 60-70 weeks 1. Efforts are underway to establish manufacturing in Europe and the U.S. to alleviate these bottlenecks. Hade also notes the complexity of integrating new switchgear into existing facilities, often requiring customization despite efforts to standardize with products like Schneider Electric's microgrid Flex 2.

Integrating a new switchgear into an existing facility has always been more of an art than a science.

--- Tim Hade

Standardization is key to making microgrids as easy to purchase as air conditioning, though this goal remains a decade away.

   

Solar & Storage

Solar and storage are pivotal in the economic viability of microgrids. Shayle Kann explains that in California, regulatory changes have made it economically necessary to pair solar with storage, reducing the incremental cost of creating islandable microgrids 3. This trend is expected to extend to other markets, enhancing the resilience of distributed energy resources. Tim Hade argues that as distributed energy resources grow, making them islandable should be a priority, despite the additional costs 4.

The incremental cost to turn that whole behind-the-meter system into a microgrid that can island is not that big.

--- Shayle Kann

The combination of solar, storage, switchgear, and dispatchable generation forms the backbone of most microgrids today, with storage playing a particularly outsized role in unlocking economic value 5.