Project design and implementation

Designs that work

Making clean local energy projects happen

Our solar+storage and Community Microgrid projects can be cost-effectively replicated around the U.S., paving the way for the proliferation of distributed energy resources.

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Community Microgrids

The Clean Coalition works with electric utilities to design and implement Community Microgrids. A Community Microgrid is a coordinated local grid area served by one or more distribution substations and supported by high penetrations of local renewables and other distributed energy resources (DER) such as energy storage and demand response

Community Microgrids prove that local renewables provide a reliable and cost-effective foundation for a modern grid — and they deliver an unparalleled trifecta of economic, environmental, and resilience benefits to communities.

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Community designs

The Clean Coalition helps design Advanced Energy Communities (AECs), which strive to meet zero net energy standards for the built environment and maximize local renewables, demand response, Community Microgrids, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI).

As part of the Peninsula Advanced Energy Community (PAEC) Initiative, we developed a Master Community Design for an AEC in a disadvantaged community in San Mateo County, California. The design included DER, Community Microgrids, and EVCI, with enough details for a shovel-ready pilot project. Lessons learned from this project will inform and streamline future deployments, allowing for large-scale DER and Community Microgrid proliferation.

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Solar Emergency Microgrids

Solar Emergency Microgrids are designed to provide indefinite renewables-driven backup power for critical loads, such as police and fire stations, emergency operations centers, emergency shelters, and other facilities prioritized by the jurisdiction — providing environmental, economic, and resilience benefits to an entire community.

The PAEC Initiative included a design and deployment plan for a Solar Emergency Microgrid in a disadvantaged community.

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Let us help you

Looking to deploy a solar+storage or Community Microgrid project? Contact us to get started.

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Recent news

The latest in clean local energy

Learn about our innovative projects and initiatives on our blog, and see what others are reporting about our important work.

All news

Santa Barbara’s Planning Commission Considers New Rules for Solar Power

Santa Barbara Independent reports on the Clean Coalition’s comments during a Santa Barbara County Planning Commission meeting regarding new solar regulations.

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How to Generate Load Profiles Using ResStock and ComStock

This blog post by the Clean Coalition describes the process of using the commercial building model databases, ResStock and ComStock, to complete the Load Profiles portion of the Solar Microgrid Methodology (SMM).

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Solar Strong – 12 March 2026

Craig Lewis spoke during this in-person gathering, held on Thursday, 12 March 2026 at 12 pm PST under the solar parking canopy at the Granada Parking Garage in Santa Barbara, CA. 

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