Brooklyn Microgrid Overview
Brooklyn Microgrid (BMG) is a network of New York City residents and business owners who support local solar energy production and who want to be pioneers in changing how we purchase and sell energy. The network connects people in NYC who own solar arrays (“prosumers”) with people who want to purchase local solar energy (“consumers”).
Energy Marketplace
Participants access the local energy marketplace through the Brooklyn Microgrid mobile app. In the app, people can choose to buy local solar energy credits. Prosumers sell their excess solar energy to the marketplace where consumers purchase the available solar via auction.
Consumer Choice
Consumers use the mobile app to select their energy sources and to set their daily budget for purchasing local energy in the marketplace. Prosumers can choose if they want to sell their excess solar energy to the marketplace or continue to net meter with Con Edison.
Benefits
Purchasing local solar energy through Brooklyn Microgrid results in support for the local economy and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Additionally, Brooklyn Microgrid provides users with control over where their energy is sourced.
History
Brooklyn Microgrid is a community-driven initiative that began in April 2016 in Park Slope when two residents on President Street participated in the first-ever peer-to-peer energy transactions. BMG was created by parent company, LO3 Energy, to reimagine the traditional energy grid model by incorporating the concept of a communal energy network in which residential and commercial New Yorkers can buy and sell locally-generated, renewable energy. Brooklyn Microgrid aims to positively impact society, workers, the community, and the environment. If you would like to join us in fighting climate change, lowering energy costs, and improving the lives of New Yorkers, CLICK HERE to participate.
The Science behind Brooklyn Microgrid
Through blockchain technology and our own innovative solutions, we’ve developed Exergy, a permissioned data platform that creates localized energy marketplaces for transacting energy across existing grid infrastructure.
We’re just beginning to uncover the potential of the Exergy platform to influence the energy model of the future, and already the possibilities seem endless.
Peer-to-Peer
On the Exergy platform, prosumers—generating energy through their own renewable resource—can transact energy autonomously in near-real time with consumers on the platform in their local marketplace.
Microgrid
A microgrid is an ecosystem of connected prosumer and consumer energy assets. Energy is generated, stored, and transacted locally, creating more efficient, resilient and sustainable communities.
DSO
The distributed system operator is granted access to consumer data like building management systems. Using price as a proxy, the Distributed Systems Operator manages energy use, load balancing, and demand response at negotiated rates.
EV Charging
When a charging station—public or private—or an electric vehicle has a surplus of energy, it is made available for purchase on the local network. Consumers can set budgets and be alerted to the availability via mobile app.
