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Blue Planet Energy entered 2020 with strong momentum from a breakout year in 2019 for the company’s safe, reliable lithium-ion battery systems and has appointed Chris Johnson new chief executive officer. Formerly chief operating officer, Johnson served on the executive team for over two years alongside company CEO and founder Henk Rogers. Rogers will remain active as Chair of the Board while he also shifts some of his focus to his newest initiative, Blue Planet Alliance, which aims to unite communities and spark global climate change solutions.

At Blue Planet Energy headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, considerable enhancements are being made to the company’s research and development resources. A new facility, affectionately known as The Sandbox, will expand upon Blue Planet Energy’s energy storage and power conversion component evaluation and integration capabilities.The Sandbox will utilize the Blue Ion LX energy storage system with an initial capacity of 128 kWh. In deployment, the LX systems can expand to over 4 MWh. Paired with the Blue Ion LX will be a variety of industry-leading battery and photovoltaic inverters, flex-fuel generators, supervisory control, and data acquisition (SCADA) technologies, and more.“These elements have critical work to perform providing power for electric vehicle and forklift charging stations as well as facility equipment including machine tools, welders, and HVAC systems,” said Sterling Gascon, product engineer at Blue Planet Energy. “The ultimate goal is to make Blue Planet Energy’s headquarters capable of 100 percent off-grid operation.”The Blue Planet Energy team is excited to integrate various power conversion technologies, charge controllers, and communications and monitoring systems in The Sandbox. Along with the high-voltage LX systems, Blue Planet Energy will continue the ongoing integration and compatibility testing of its flagship low-voltage Blue Ion 2.0 system in order to continuously evolve product operation and features.

A large portion of Puerto Rico was blacked out after earthquakes in early January, but solar plus storage systems helped keep power flowing in many schools that served as community shelters.Wes Kennedy, instructor of HeatSpring’s Comprehensive Solar Plus Storage course, helped create those islands of resiliency, working with Blue Planet Energy, which provides energy storage systems.Emergency Power for Community Shelters in Puerto RicoIn a contract with the American Red Cross, Blue Planet Energy is working to equip more than 100 schools across Puerto Rico with battery systems that are charged with solar energy. The contracts were signed in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which wiped out the island’s electric grid in September 2017, leaving some without power for more than a year.About 50 schools are now operating with the systems, which keep power flowing in the midst of disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.After the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico, 600 people were sheltered in one of the schools with systems installed by Blue Planet, says Kennedy. Not only do the solar plus storage systems serve as community shelters, they act as mission control centers for non-governmental organizations that are focusing on disaster relief efforts, finding supplies, and communicating recovery plans.

These remote mountain communities lost their water after Hurricane Maria. Now, things are different.When Hurricane Maria cut off power to José Amaro’s mountain community, the water went out too.But during the most recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico – even as power and water were shut off to parts of the island – the community’s new solar-powered pump kept on working.Cidra, a community of approximately 96 households, is located in Puerto Rico’s mountainous central region.

His goal of eliminating global dependence on carbon-based fuels guides Blue Planet Energy’s mission-driven approach to technology development. Blue Planet Energy’s energy storage systems are used by both businesses and homeowners to provide energy security, independence from the utility grid, and to drive the increased use of renewable power generation.

Net Zero Renewable Resources (NZRR) is an independent, family-owned solar and energy storage contractor. The father-and-son team of Lee and Paul Gustafson is well known for the installation of high-quality systems throughout its service territory of southern Vermont and New Hampshire. When Green Mountain Power, a progressive utility in Vermont, was looking for opportunities to showcase energy storage systems that provide resilience within its power grid, NZRR was the perfect installation partner.

Blue Planet Energy has responded to California’s energy crisis, spurred by recent wildfires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) events, with a sales incentive for battery backup systems for home and business owners. Fire-safe Blue Ion 2.0 batteries from Blue Planet Energy enable power from different generation sources, like solar energy or generators, to be safely stored for use during utility grid disruptions, at night, or for completely grid-independent systems. The Blue Ion incentive program is designed to offer a price break for new energy storage systems purchased by February 15, 2020, as well as assistance connecting with a local certified installer for Californians seeking to hedge against the costs of power loss.“The recent power shutoffs are California’s hurricane,” said Blue Planet Energy VP of Business Development Gregg Murphy. “And just like hurricanes, losing power puts undue stress on our communities’ critical infrastructure and public safety. With PG&E stating that PSPS events could continue for the next decade, now is the time for energy independence and for Californians to focus on resilience solutions for homes, businesses, and in the community at large.”

In September 2017, category 5 Hurricane Maria left an estimated 95% of Puerto Rico without power or cell service, and more than half of the population without access to clean drinking water. Three months later, 45% of the population—more than 1.5 million individuals—was still without electrical service.

In mid-October, one week before more than 3,000 people descended on downtown Oakland, California, for GreenBiz Group’s VERGE 19 conference, an estimated 1 million people lost power in Northern California. On purpose.It was part of Pacific Gas & Electric’s Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program, an initiative that shuts off portions of the region’s electricity grid to avoid wildfires when the risks are high; that is, when conditions are hot, dry, and windy.Given the national exposure these actions received, the GreenBiz team received a flurry of questions from VERGE 19 attendees and exhibitors: What would happen if the power went out during the event?The answer: The show would have gone on.