In 2019 Sandbar Solar & Electric built its new 11,500 square foot headquarters building. Instead of waiting several years for PG&E to establish a new electrical service at the site Sandbar designed, engineered and installed a stand-alone microgrid made up of 57-Kilowatts of solar, 154 kWh of energy storage, and a 35-kW generator. The solar and batteries satisfy the building’s energy needs 96.5% of the year while the generator runs just 3.5% of the time or approximately 300 hours. The Sandbar HQ has commercial-grade, 480V, 3-phase power and has remained fully operational through all grid power outages that have affected its local area since the building’s completion in December 2019.
System size:
• 57 kW DC Solar
• 154 kWh ESS Capacity
Installation type:
Pitched Metal Roof, Mechanically-Attached, Flush-Mounted Racking
Solar/Battery Inverters:
Ideal Power: 30 kW, DC-coupled Inverters
Batteries:
- Avalon 30kWh Batteries
- Blue Planet 64kWh Battery