Microgrid will let these Menifee homes keep lights on during outages – OCRegister
Saws and hammers ringing out in the town of Menifee are crafting a new model community for America’s clean energy future.
The houses in KB Home’s Oak Shade and Durango developments will have more than just roof-top solar panels, energy-efficient heat pumps and foam-insulated walls.
These houses will be interconnected like a hive, sharing data and electricity in a network of backup batteries. A 2.3-megawatt “community battery” the size of a shipping container will supplement each home’s power supply, delivering even more electricity to residents.
When finished, the Menifee development will be a “microgrid” — perhaps the first such residential project of its kind in California.
The development also is one of nine U.S. Department of Energy-funded pilot projects aimed at curbing global warmin...