energy & technology

The fleet of vehicles was built by four students along with Thompson and N. Moorthy Muthukrishnan, Ph.D., Lecturer of Engineering at UNCA and a member of CSM Group. These microgrid vehicles use solar power to run, and more than that, they also power tools and other equipment to work on maintenance projects around the Warren Wilson campus.

These mobile microgrids are proof that microgrids work well, according to Thompson. “It’s a technical innovation that uses less energy,” he said. “Businesses are a critical part of that — everyone can implement a microgrid and everyone can see the money saved. They provide clean, renewable energy that can still be used when the major grid goes down. Models like these would be great additions to the city. Even the best can always get better.”

Expanding Broadband Services Equips Businesses and Communities for Increased Success

may lose thousands of dollars of revenue if their power is shut down for a short period of time could also benefit from this technology.. He said not only can these entities power their own locations with solar power, but a battery backup system that ties into the grid could also power parts of the community when the major grid goes down.

Buncombe County is preparing to do more, according to Thompson. Some of these ideas are being integrated into the county’s 2043 Comprehensive Plan and include projects like the installation of rooftop solar on county buildings, parking decks, public schools, and community colleges. These projects are creating jobs, saving money in the community, and inviting more people into a community that is a healthy place to live, according to Thompson.

“Getting more people to realize microgrids can play a role in saving money and saving lives is priceless,” Thompson said. “We are working to help propagate that knowledge.”

Critical Services Microgrid Group has been actively working with students at Warren Wilson College for more than two years on projects including mobile microgrid vehicles, according to Thompson. He said the group also works with faculty and students collecting data using energy audits and smart meters and getting faculty to learn and teach software programs that are “rough drafts of microgrids,” tools to gain and share visual information.

Thompson said the budget to build these microgrid vehicles was very tight, and the aspiration to teach sustainability led to some of these vehicles being built beginning with basic frames off of a trash pile. “There were no hubs or wheels, just a nice aluminum frame and a plastic battery cabinet,” he said.

For any type of business, the ability to connect to the internet, specifically broadband, is a huge benefit, according to AT&T’s Director of Government Affairs Chuck Greene.

Broadband is the connection to the internet enabling users to access information from sources all over the world. Greene said this is critical to people working from home, and the demand is constantly growing.

Fiber connections transmit data over very small glass tubes using pulses of light, unlike coax cable which transmits data using electrical impulses or wireless towers which use cellular technologies. There are different advantages and disadvantages to each of these technologies, according to Greene. White light was initially used, but by dividing light into different colors and wavelengths, the capacity was able to increase. He said it’s possible to increase the data transmission capacity of the fiber in the ground without doing anything to it directly; simply changing the equipment on either end does the job.

“The capacity grows by how many more colors you can use,” Greene said. “Each shade of color is a different path. Right now we are using 512 colors at the same time through the same fiber, and we are working to be able to use even more simultaneously.”

The structure of the fiber is different between residential and small businesses to medium and large businesses. Greene said larger businesses have a direct connection with the central offices. Neighborhood-level distribution areas are more of a hub-and-spoke model serving between 150 and 300 locations, and that ‘hub’ houses the connection from the central office.