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BlockEnergy

When Hurricane Ian tore through Florida in 2022, it devastated heavily populated areas, wrecking some 5,000 homes, damaging 30,000 others, and leaving <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-energy-policy/articles/10.3389/fsuep.2023.1304673/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2.7 million Floridians without power.</a>
Meanwhile, <a href="https://blockenergy.com/lights-stay-on-in-blockenergy-community-during-hurricane-ian/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the lights stayed on</a> at BlockEnergy’s 37-home pilot subdivision.

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The BlockEnergy platform that powered the subdivision had been designed with layers of resiliency so that its autonomous energy systems would stay live even when the main grid went down. So, none of the mini-grid equipment was damaged by the hurricane. The system provided 100% power for residents while the grid-tie was inoperable for three days.
<h2>What’s a Mini-Grid?</h2>
A mini-grid is a localized energy system that generates, distributes, and regulates electricity for a specific community, area, or facility.
Unlike traditional centralized power grids that rely on large-scale power plants and extensive transmission networks, mini grids operate independently or in conjunction with the main grid to provide reliable and resilient power to their designated regions.

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BlockEnergy LLC (formerly&nbsp;Emera Technologies) is a Tampa-based firm that harnesses disruptive technologies to develop new ways to deliver renewable energy to customers. The company&nbsp;developed&nbsp;<a href="https://blockenergy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BlockEnergy</a>&nbsp;to deliver the benefits of a utility-managed mini-grid platform to new-build residential communities: 
<ul><li>Cleaner, local power </li></ul>
<ul><li>Always-on resiliency </li></ul>
<ul><li>Easy scalability for any size community </li></ul>
BlockEnergy uses solar power generation, battery storage, modern power electronics, and an innovative control architecture to create an autonomous community energy system. The energy that is produced in the community is optimized and shared among all of the homeowners in the community. 
The result is a very efficient energy system that is ultra secure:

Within the BlockEnergy mini-grid, each BlockHome includes a BlockBox (battery) outside the house. Each BlockBox is connected to the house solar roof, as well as to local energy storage and to the grid. Watch this video illustration of how BlockEnergy works. Video credit:&nbsp;Block Energy.

The BlockEnergy platform is designed to be a plug-and-play system, with a simple kit of parts that is easily customized and scalable to fit a community’s needs: 
<ol><li>BlockHome Each BlockHome in a Block Energy community has Rooftop Solar and a BlockBox unit (Block controls, battery, and AC power converter) to deliver energy to the home and manage power sharing across other homes in the neighborhood. </li><li>BlockLoop The BlockHomes in each community are joined together in a network, creating self-sustaining BlockLoops, able to independently power homes without disruption. </li><li>BlockCentral Control For each community, a Battery Park provides additional energy storage and a Backup Generator provides energy redundancy. The BlockCentral Control unit manages the backup batteries and generator, to ensure energy security for the neighborhood.</li></ol>

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Delve partnered with BlockEnergy to help develop several key elements of the BlockEnergy Mini-Grid platform: rooftop solar, the BlockBox enclosure, and the Battery Park.

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<h2>Rooftop Solar</h2>
We developed, to proof of concept, a novel BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaic) roofing design that would act as the primary weather barrier and structure of the residential roofing system.

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<h2>BlockBox</h2>
Delve worked with&nbsp;BlockEnergy to design and engineer a battery module that would be simple to install outside every home. We designed a rugged enclosure that would meet Florida’s stringent environmental regulations and be suitable for the tight lot size seen in many modern residential developments. 
To delight homeowners and promote pride in ownership, we color matched the Blockbox units to the residences and included functional status lighting.

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<h2>Battery Park</h2>
We developed the BlockEnergy Battery Park, where additional energy for a neighborhood is stored. Like the BlockBox, the Battery Park needed a rugged utility structure to house batteries, ionvertors and load levelling control systems. The team chose to leverage standard shipping containers as fire-resistant controls buildings that could be delivered intact and would withstand Florida weather, including hurricane force winds.<h2>Cleaner, More Reliable Local Power for Residential Developments </h2>
BlockEnergy gives homeowners the peace of mind of knowing they have cleaner, maintenance-free, uninterrupted power in their home, while keeping energy costs low. For builders and developers of residential communities, integrating the BlockEnergy platform into a new development elevates the project and adds extra value by offering the sustainability and power security demanded by many of today’s homeowners. For utility companies, BlockEnergy is a welcome new tool for addressing the challenge of providing consumers with more clean energy and doing it in ways that improve reliability.

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BlockEnergy provides utilities and their customers the following benefits: 
<ul><li>Secure Power. Power is generated and distributed locally with multiple levels of security, starting with safety and protection of the power electronic and communications. In an outage, each site instantly reverts to using its own, BlockHome-powered solar and storage system.</li></ul>

In Africa, more than 80 percent of households lack access to energy. Fenix International, a Silicon-Valley startup, sought to tackle this problem with a pay-to-own, personal solar-powered grid.

Case Study: Fenix International

<ul><li>Resilient Power. Each BlockHome is its own power system that includes solar generation, storage, and power controls. Homes share energy as needed. The system can operate independently indefinitely, with locally-sited backup power and batteries for the community. </li></ul>
<ul><li>Renewable Power. All homes using BlockEnergy have power supplied by energy stored in batteries with most of the generation coming from local rooftop solar. Having generation and battery storage directly at each load is ideal for renewable intermittent power. </li></ul>
<ul><li>Operational Power: The user interface gives second-by-second visual information so that utility operators can override the system automation and control the amount of energy directed to each load—an important advantage during an emergency. </li></ul>
<ul><li>Data Controlled Power: The system provides watt-by-watt data, allowing real time observation and control of the platform. The system is autonomous and self-healing; any problems are revealed and corrected instantly allowing for quick response and continual optimization.</li></ul>
<h2>Trial by Hurricane</h2>
BlockEnergy’s pilot system was installed as part of a 440-unit development in Tampa, Florida. 
Not long after the successful install, the design faced its first major trial—Hurricane Ian—and <a href="https://blockenergy.com/lights-stay-on-in-blockenergy-community-during-hurricane-ian/" target="_blank">aced it</a>.

Some houses within the development that were not part of the BlockEnergy test program did lose power. The BlockEnergy homes <a href="https://blockenergy.com/lights-stay-on-in-blockenergy-community-during-hurricane-ian/" target="_blank">stayed on</a>. 
“We went through a hurricane and nothing was interrupted, we never lost power,” said a BlockEnergy homeowner. “We are just so grateful to be part of this [pilot].” Since then, BlockEnergy has faced additional hurricanes, including Hurricane&nbsp;Milton in 2024.&nbsp;Each time, the system has <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-laberge-a0417b1b_milton-ugcPost-7250496623145807874-6sfv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop" target="_blank">performed flawlessly</a>, ensuring residents remained connected and powered.

BlockEnergy powers community when grid goes down. Video credit: BlockEnergy

BlockEnergy was <a href="https://blockenergy.com/blockenergy-receives-fast-company-2021-world-changing-ideas-awards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recognized by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea</a> in 2021. It was named <a href="https://blockenergy.com/blockenergy-wins-2023-power-magazine-distributed-energy-award/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">POWER Magazine’s Distributed Energy Award winner</a> in 2023. Additional development builds are in progress.

Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.delve.com/services" target="_blank">Product Development & Design Services at Delve.</a>

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Scalable, storm-resilient and able to interoperate seamlessly with the local grid when needed, BlockEnergy puts rooftop solar, energy storage and distributed control throughout new communities of all sizes.

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Scalable, storm- resilient  and able to interoperate seamlessly with the local grid when needed,  BlockEnergy  puts rooftop solar, energy storage and  distributed control  throughout new communities of all sizes.

Scalable, storm- resilient  and able to interoperate seamlessly with the local grid when needed,  BlockEnergy  puts rooftop solar, energy storage and …

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BlockEnergy: Residential Mini-Grid

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