Forbes: Sesame Solar Opens with World’s First 100% Renewable Mobile Nanogrids
The article "Sesame Solar Opens With ‘World’s First 100% Renewable Mobile Nanogrids" was published by Forbes.com on June 16, 2022 and written by Jeff Kart.
In an emergency, one person can set up this nanogrid and start generating power in 15 minutes, with minimal training.
In other words, it’s almost as easy as saying “open sesame,” or in this case, using a new device launched today by Sesame Solar, based in Jackson, Michigan.
“The treasure of essential services is inside,” says Lauren Flanagan, Sesame Solar’s CEO.
The nanogrid can generate clean, off-grid power using solar energy and green hydrogen. It comes pre-fabricated to meet essential services and emergence response needs across a variety of scenarios, according to the startup.
The nanogrids have already been tested to support the island of Dominica in the wake of Hurricane Maria and with Comcast to support communication recovery after Hurricane Ida. Other early users include the U.S. Air Force and major telecommunications companies and emergency response organizations, Flanagan says.
The “open sesame” part occurs by electronically unfolding a retractable solar array.
In an emergency, the nanogrids can provide services like medical response, water purification, Wi-Fi and electric vehicle charging.
Flanagan says earlier versions of the device used solar and battery power. “We’re the first to market with green hydrogen. We make the hydrogen gas from solar power through electrolysis of water and store it to fuel a hydrogen fuel cell.”
The solution is a green alternative to diesel-powered generators that emit harmful particulate matter. The only byproduct is oxygen, the CEO says.
The Sesame Solar units can produce 3-20 kilowatts of solar power, with total battery storage of 15-150 kilowatt hours, according the company.
This offers “weeks of autonomy” by combining renewable energy generation and storage in a closed-loop, carbon-free, reliable system. The nanogrids range in length from 10-40 feet for easy transport, housed in a trailer or shipping container.
A typical unit holds about 50 gallons of water. “If you have more water, you can have more days of autonomy or if you’re having more sunny days you can toggle between the two.”
The cost per unit is $100,000-$300,000, with a lifespan of about 20 years.
Flanagan says the nanogrids launched today have been in development for five years. She’s on her fifth startup; she co-founded two angel investment funds and is on the board of Springboard Enterprises, whose 900-plus women-led portfolio companies have created more than $36.4 billion in value, according to a news release.
“After (Hurricane) Katrina, I was sort of, ‘everybody has to do something about climate change,’” Flanagan says.
Sesame Solar sees a huge market opening for its products.
“We’re riding these sort of dystopian waves of increased weather disasters ...” said Flanagan, speaking shortly after a tornado ripped through Gaylord, Michigan, in May.
“There’s a need for mobile power and these services.”
She declined to say how many units will be deployed this year, but says the nanogrids will be used in multiple locations to assist with emergencies.
According to the United Nations, 560 catastrophic weather events are expected to happen each year by 2030, costing lives and billions of dollars globally.
In 2021, economic losses from weather events totaled $343 billion.
Read the article here.
