L. Flanagan
Sesame Solar,
United States
Keywords: green hydrogen, clean mobile power, energy resilience, energy sustainment, solar power, climate resilience
Summary:
Sesame Solar developed the world’s first Renewable Mobile Nanogrid to address our society's need for an easy-to-use, sustainable way to quickly get reliable power and help to people after catastrophic events, while also providing an energy solution for expeditionary and off-grid power needs. Powered by solar + green hydrogen + battery storage, and easily set up by 1 person in <15 minutes, Sesame Mobile Nanogrids provide a continuous loop of reliable, renewable energy, ensuring energy independence for a variety of off-grid power needs. Why green hydrogen? Following through on our mission to provide energy resilience, Sesame Solar integrates green hydrogen systems into our Nanogrids as backup power to the primary solar power, ensuring longer duration Clean Mobile Power. This integration addresses a key challenge in renewable energy systems: reliability and continuity of power supply, especially when conditions for solar power aren’t ideal. So how does it operate? The Lithium Ferro Phosphate battery systems, ranging from 15 to 150 kWh inside Sesame’s Nanogrids, store the power produced by solar arrays ranging from 3-10 kW depending on the size of the Mobile Nanogrid. The stored power is managed by inverters ranging from 4-30 kW to deliver power depending on the load and duration required. Hydrogen gas is then produced onboard Sesame’s Nanogrids using electrolyzers powered by the battery bank. The hydrogen is dried to 99.99% purity. The green hydrogen gas is stored in solid-state storage tanks on the outside of the Nanogrid at low pressure, making it safe to transport. When the batteries are at 35% capacity, the onboard hydrogen fuel cell starts charging the batteries using the stored, green hydrogen gas. When the batteries are recharged, the hydrogen fuel cell shuts off. If more stored hydrogen is needed, electrolysis can be sequenced to produce hydrogen gas until the storage tanks are full. This system provides a clean energy loop. With the addition of Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG), Sesame’s Mobile Nanogrid allows any operation to autonomously generate the water needed to make green hydrogen gas to power the fuel cell, creating complete energy independence, while also providing safe drinking water. The water is made from humidity in the air—no supply chain required, ensuring seamless operations, further enhancing sustainability and energy resilience. Made in Michigan, Sesame Solar has worked with major telecommunications companies, U.S. Department of Defense and emergency response operations to rapidly deploy renewable Mobile Nanogrids for off-grid power and essential services at scale. Most recently, Sesame Solar worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deploy the world’s first hydrogen powered, unmanned perimeter security Nanogrid to the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Base (WSMR), New Mexico. Sesame’s novel integration of green hydrogen for backup power was first to market in the renewable energy sector. By utilizing innovative, fossil-fuel-free technology to help communities become more energy resilient, Sesame Solar is enhancing the efficiency and reliability of its Nanogrids but also contributing to a safer, more sustainable future.