Case Study

When he leaves the California Governor’s office, Jerry Brown and his wife Anne will spend the majority of their time at Rancho Venada, 2,500 isolated acres located 75 minutes northwest of Sacramento. The land has been in the family since Governor Brown’s great-grandfather August Schuckman purchased it after arriving in Central California during the gold rush.

The Brown’s new home is an off-grid, single-story, 2,674-square-foot ranch house powered by a Solar+battery storage microgrid. As a leading renewable energy champion, one would expect Governor Brown to have clean energy installed on his ranch. However, beyond his belief in photovoltaics, Rancho Venada is entirely off-grid because there is no electrical infrastructure serving the ranch’s location in Colusa County.

Designed and installed by Jason Andrade of West Coast Sustainables, the Rancho Venada microgrid is comprised of 48 solar panels, producing 14 kilowatt-hours of electricity-feeding renewable power into ten PHI 3.4kWh 48V batteries. A 24kWh natural gas backup system is also installed for days when sunlight is limited.

Check out a video of Jason giving a tour of the installation here.

The Governor was actively involved in choosing the technology that makes up his microgrid. He elected to go with Solar World modules because they are made in the USA, Outback inverters based on West Coast Sustainables experience and our PHI batteries for the longevity and safety of our storage solutions.

Fully integrated microgrid installations like this one provide a compelling case study for the cost-effectiveness and viability of renewable energy plus storage in providing reliable off-grid power.