Faith Debuts Microgrid Portable Power Station

July 25, 2018 - Faith Technologies is using EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 as the debut venue for  its microgrid, a new, movable energy source that can provide industrial levels of power at remote locations. In just a few years the Menasha, Wisconsin, company has grown from a regional electrical contractor into a national provider of innovative energy solutions.

The mobile microgrid can serve “mission-critical government buildings, military operations, telecommunications, off-the-grid locations, and businesses affected by natural disasters or power outages,” said Jeff Kaufman, Faith’s strategic account leader. With its relatively small size, a mobile microgrid can be transported wherever needed, and several mobile microgrids can be tied together to create a larger power source if necessary.

The unit on exhibit at AirVenture is a solar-powered microgrid that automatically deploys from a standard 20-foot shipping container; wind or other energy sources can also be harnessed to power a microgrid. As one example of its versatility, after a chance encounter here with the SureFly team, the microgrid supplied the power to recharge the innovative multicopter’s batteries. “I literally ran into them at Boeing Plaza, and everything spawned from there,” said Jeff. Once the microgrid was hooked up to SureFly, “They were watching the [batteries’] power consumption, and the microgrid was feeding it faster” than a traditional electrical power source provides, he said.

As for the cost, “I think people will be surprised at the affordability,” said Jeff. “Right now and for the foreseeable future, states and utilities are offering a lot of incentives for individuals to provide their own power, especially in areas where the grid as we know it is rather suspect.”

Though the company is exhibiting here for the first time, Faith Technologies (Main Aircraft Display, Booth 477A) has been associated with the fly-in for “well over 30 years,” as a prime power provider vendor for all the exhibitors, said Jeff. He was formerly the EAA’s director of business development for a dozen years.