Connect California was founded to develop a solution for PEVs to provide clean backup power under current regulations, with a keen focus on how one vehicle could backup one home during a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event.
Over the past 2 years, more and more PSPS events were initiated by the state’s three investor-owned utilities each fire season, spanning days and impacting millions of people. This led many utility customers to purchase fuel-based generators and extension cords.
Recent tragic events remind us these fossil-fuel backup sources are lethal when used improperly, polluting when used, and can result in
- Fires and carbon monoxide poisoning
- Neighborhoods filled with the smell and health consequences of generator exhaust
- Misguided approaches which send electrical backfeed onto the grid putting utility workers and the public at risk
Connect California is rooted in the simple idea of clean, safe, and inexpensive resiliency set against a complex energy, technology and consumer landscape.
Connect California worked with industry expert ConnectDER to develop a hardware solution, the IslandDER™. The IslandDER, combined with compatible systems solves the basic connectivity and safety requirements allowing a PEV to power a home or a small business:
- Enables standard grid-tied rooftop solar energy systems to ride through outages by keeping a PEV or portable/stationary battery charged and the home energized
- Provides a safer way for existing fuel-based generators to power an entire home by removing the need to use extension cords or place a fossil fuel based backup generator inside the home
- Reduces the cost of backup power by streamlining safety and making backup power as easy as ‘plug and play’ for the whole home