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FastCompany
“This single shipping container can start powering a small renewable grid in less than a day”
Inside a shipping container currently en route to a school in Puerto Rico, a solar microgrid is ready for deployment: As soon as the container arrives, the system, from a startup called BoxPower, can be assembled and begin providing power in less than a day.
The system, designed for use both immediately after disasters and to make communities more resilient to future disasters, is easy to rapidly install. “We jokingly call ourselves the Ikea of microgrids because there is some assembly required, but it is color-coded, pre-cut, and pre-drilled,” says Angelo Campus, CEO and founder of California-based BoxPower. “And anyone who can assemble an Ikea dresser can assemble our solar array on top of the container. It doesn’t require any heavy equipment or machinery.”
The first product fits inside a standard 20-foot shipping container, so it can easily be transported. Inside, there are solar panels and racks, along with a prewired battery, inverter, and a backup generator that runs on fossil fuels, so it can still be used if there’s ever a series of cloudy days and the battery runs low. “You get all the same reliability and consistency of having a generator but with an 80 or 90% fuel and therefore operating cost reduction,” Campus says.
The system can provide around 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or enough to power three or four homes or an energy-intensive business, the company says. If a disaster is imminent—such as a hurricane that might cause debris to fly into the solar panels—the whole system can be quickly disassembled and packed back inside the shipping container.
GreenBiz: “7 Companies making their mark with commercial microgrids”
Turnkey microgrid-plus storage systems have been having a moment in the wake of the California utilities’ recent public safety power shutoffs.
“After two weeks of outages and utility shutoffs, many businesses have had to shut their doors because of cash flow issues or because they lost their inventory at a critical time of the year,” said Angelo Campus, founder and CEO of BoxPower, a startup that makes pre-engineered microgrid plus storage systems that can be dispatched and stored in shipping containers.
More climate-vulnerable companies no longer see small and medium-sized microgrids as a “nice thing to have,” but something that they need to have, he said. BoxPower is in the market with two turnkey microgrid solutions plus storage products, one that relies solely on solar power and another that uses solar power and natural gas.
Container Microgrids: Lowering Costs Through Modular Design and Streamlined Engineering
Homer Microgrid News 07/14/19
In an effort to bring clean energy to remote customers at affordable prices, the California-based company BoxPower has been standardizing and continuing to refine designs for small-scale power systems that can fit into a container. BoxPower engineer Michele Nesbit says “we’re social impact-focused, so designing cost-effective systems is a key motivation for us.” She says the company is currently providing container-packaged microgrids and renewable energy systems to remote native communities in Alaska and areas in Puerto Rico that are still recovering from Hurricane Maria. BoxPower also sells its systems to anyone who needs an off-grid or mobile power supply, and customers include a California summer camp, a group of protestors temporarily occupying a piece of land, and a solar water pumping system in Hawaii.
BoxPower takes first place at annual Princeton-HBS Startup Showcase
Princeton Entrepreneurship Council 07/12/19
Clean tech startup BoxPower shone brightly at the fourth annual Princeton-Harvard Business School Startup Showcase. As the winner of the audience vote, BoxPower will be fast-tracked to the final selection round of the Princeton Alumni Angels fall pitch night, and won the opportunity to pitch at an upcoming HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York pitch night. BoxPower will also receive mentorship from PAA.
BoxPower: Solar Energy for Off-Grid and Disaster-Hit Regions
RESET 07/10/19
Now a US entrepreneur Angelo Campus, has founded the startup BoxPower to provide power supply to sites quickly and easily. And as the name suggests, the power comes from a box – or more precisely from a container usually used for sea freight. It contains everything needed for off-grid power generation: photovoltaic panels, inverters, switch boxes and batteries. The system can be installed within five hours and several systems can be interconnected to meet higher energy needs. One single container can supply five to six households with energy. It also has an intelligent energy management system that allows energy storage to be adapted to future meteorological conditions, maximising energy production and storage.
Tips on Avoiding Burnout and Other Advice from 2019 Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs
SOCAP 06/24/19
Angelo Campus: Social entrepreneurship isn’t clean, easy, or straightforward. It doesn’t fit the startup model of do one thing, do it well, scale it really fast. If it is that easy, someone has probably already done it. If you are really trying to provide a service to someone who has been overlooked and neglected–and if you are truly in it for the impact first–figuring out how to get that service to that person in a sustainable way is going to be complicated and messy and it is going to take time.
DOE Co-Funded PV Project Brings Fuel Cost Savings to Three Alaska Native Villages—Starting With Buckland
DOE Tribal Energy 2/25/19
The system in Buckland is now operational, and Adams said NANA Corporation is already collecting data on its energy production. During the fall of 2018, at one point in time soon after the solar arrays were online, 38% of the village’s energy came from renewable energy, which included the three PV arrays and existing wind turbines that have already been installed. In the winter, when daylight is significantly reduced, the village relies much more heavily on diesel power—but with the addition of battery storage, which has already been purchased and is scheduled for commissioning in April or May of 2019, Buckland is hoping to come off of diesel entirely for several hours at a time during the summer months.
The containerized solar system was provided by BoxPower Inc., a California energy company specializing in rapidly deployable solar and battery systems for rural energy projects and disaster relief. BoxPower Inc. is a participant in the Launch Alaska business accelerator, which introduces innovative infrastructure companies to the Alaskan market, as was demonstrated in Buckland.
Forbes 30 Under 30
Forbes 11/1/18
BoxPower manufactures solar microgrids that can be quickly deployed via shipping containers to communities in need. Each unit can be assembled (without specialized equipment or technicians) in just five hours and powers six homes–or can be linked together to form a localized grid. BoxPower was used in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and has offset 6.2 million pounds of CO2 to date.
Buckland’s Solar Arrays Highlight Potential of Renewable Energy in Rural Alaska
SWAMC 10/25/18
The northwest village of Buckland has put three new solar arrays online in pursuit of lower utility costs. Buckland, like the majority of rural Alaska, has depended on diesel for much of its electricity generation. While that will likely continue to be the case, a battery system planned for next year coupled with an existing wind turbine installation will expand the role of renewables in the community.
The project was supported by the US Department of Energy as well as Northwest Alaska Native Association. Buckland is on its own energy grid, making integration of renewables especially straightforward. Much of the cost was covered through grants.
The equipment was purchased from a California company, BoxPower, which sells complete solar power stations that fit inside shipping containers. Residents are hopeful that these arrays will lower their cost of living as well as curb worries about future price spikes of diesel and heating fuel.
A solar project in rural Alaska takes aim at sky-high electric bills
KTOO 10/24/18
Buckland’s three solar arrays were installed this fall, though they haven’t been switched on yet. The equipment came from BoxPower, a California company that sells complete solar power stations that fit inside a shipping container.
New Solar Incentive in Massachusetts…Tecogen to Install School Microgrid…Launch Alaska Deadline Near
Microgrid Knowledge 9/27/18
Massachusetts looks even more microgrid-friendly with approval yesterday of a new solar tariff expected to save ratepayers $4.7 billion over current programs and make rooftop solar cash flow positive more quickly.
Under the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART), a project under 5 MW receives an incentive from the utility company. SMART replaces the existing solar renewable energy credit program.
The state expects SMART to support an additional 1,600 MW of solar. This addition would make solar 10 percent of the electricity used in the state.
North to the Future: ‘Arctic tech’ entrepreneurs help Alaska adapt to climate change
Impact Alpha 8/6/18
Alaska’s supply chain was precarious even before melting permafrost and Arctic ice put the state on the front lines of climate change.
Tiny Power: Hybrid Microgrid Aids Rural Puerto Rico, Alaskan Arctic
Efficient Gov 7/28/18
When devastating weather events like Hurricane Maria leave regions without power, a modular microgrid kit can bring important services online to help communities function better during lengthy rebuilding efforts.
According to a recent article in Microgrid Knowledge, an abandoned school being used as a community center in rural Mariana, Puerto Rico, is being powered with a hybrid microgrid kit manufactured and shipped by California-based BoxPower to Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo (Mutual Aid Project).
Alaska Is Offering Entrepreneurs a Huge Renewable Energy Opportunity
Entreprenuer.com 7/26/18
This year’s cohort of four start-ups competed before the Demo Day audience. They presented their concepts, progress, and investment opportunities. The popular winner, BoxPower, is a classic example of what Vanderburg is looking for: an ideal alternative energy solution for Alaska.
We met with its 25-year-old founder, Angelo Campus. Angelo has developed a mobile solar power plant with batteries, back up and software all packed in a self-contained shipping container. He has one in operation in Puerto Rico, one in Upstate New York and is shipping three more to a customer in Alaska this month. He also has Letters of Intent for several more Alaskan projects next summer! Unlike similar solutions that take five to ten employees two to three weeks to install, BoxPower can be assembled and producing power within four hours!
3 Steps Cleantech Startup Investors Can Take For Greener Returns
Forbes 7/26/18
…research institutions that fund cleantech ideas are not necessarily the best evaluators of how inventions will succeed in the market. Angelo Campus, founder of BoxPower (a current Echoing Green fellow) deploying modular solar microgrids, ran into trouble when his university’s priorities and the market’s needs didn’t line up: “My first prototype funded by my university developed functionality like speed of deployment, which I later realized was not a market need, and so I had to make later iterations.” Cleantech investors need to see beyond current product and market gaps and evaluate if a technical innovation can be transformed into a profitable product.
With this kit, you can set up a solar-powered microgrid
Yale Climate Connections 6/18/18
Eight months after Hurricane Maria, power had still not been fully restored to the town of Mariana, Puerto Rico.
So a company called BoxPower shipped solar panels, batteries, and a backup generator to power a café, laundromat, and community center there. But unlike most renewable energy systems, this one snapped together almost like Legos – with no engineers or electricians needed.
Campus: “If you can put together an Ikea bed-frame you can probably put together our microgrid system.”
Remote Puerto Rico Community Rebuilds with Microgrid “Like an IKEA Set”
Microgrid Knowledge 6/11/18
A microgrid like an IKEA set…
Multiple containerized systems can be linked together to meet a load of any size, connected to the main grid, or working independently in island mode.
The BoxPower system’s solar panels can be removed and stored inside the container to prevent damage during extreme weather conditions. Members of the community, who were involved in the installation of the system, are fully trained on how to dismantle it if needed.
In this scenario, the energy management system would turn on the diesel generator, also housed inside the shipping container, to provide the center’s critical load.
innovador tratamiento de oftalmólogo boricua
El Neuvo Dia 5/27/18
“Este idea surge hace siete años tras la emergencia (por el terremoto) en Haití. Luego, estuvimos cuatro años de investiación y desarrollo en la Universidad de Princeton, hasta que decidí comercializarlo para que pudiera ayudar en situaciones de desastres. Llefamos dos años desarrollando la compañía, hemos hecho prototipos, y aunque hicimos tres pruebas en distintos lugares, es Puerto Rico el primer lugar en el que instalamos este equip como compañia,” explicó Angelo Campus, fundador y dueño de BoxPower.
El barrio Mariana de Humacao estrena sistema de energía solar
Walo Radio 5/27/18
El barrio Mariana de #Humacao estrena sistema solar de California EE.UU., uno de los más grandes que ha llegado a Puerto Rico
El ingeniero y CEO de BoxPower, Angelo Campus, diseñó un sistema de energía modular que se puede trasladar y montar en cualquier lugar en menos de 24 horas.
La directora de la Asociación Recreativa, Educativa y Comunal de Mariana y, también, cofundadora de Proyecto Apoyo Mutuo (PAM) de Humacao, Christine Nieves junto al ingeniero explicaron los detalles sobre este proyecto de energía sustentable que impactará a más de 3,200 personas de la comunidad.
El uso de microrredes y el almacenamiento de energía permiten que los días sin sol el sistema genere electricidad por 72 horas.
Este proyecto comunitario está ubicado específicamente en la escuela Juan de Dios López de Humacao donde ofrecerá el servicio de lavandería, café, galería de arte, servicios legales y hospedería.
What’s in the box? — BoxPower Inc., CEO, Angelo Campus is on a mission to bring renewable & environmentally-sustainable energy to the world
Nevada Union 3/18/18
Across the globe, 1.2 billion people are living in the dark. One in seven — 16 percent of the world’s population — have little or no access to electricity.
A Grass Valley man is on a mission to help solve the energy poverty crisis.
Angelo Campus is the founder and CEO of BoxPower Inc., which is quite literally power in a box. The renewable energy startup company provides off-grid communities with affordable, portable microgrid infrastructures in shipping containers.
Princeton Grads’ Energy Startup Provides Power To Native Americans Protesting Oil Pipeline
Forbes 10/12/17
In mid-August BoxPower, a renewable energy startup, responded delivering one of their off-grid system units to support the Ramapough Lenape Tribe’s cause by powering their campsite. Co-founded by millennial entrepreneurs and engineers – Angelo Campus and Aaron Schwartz – from Princeton University, BoxPower’s renewable energy system is self-contained within a 20ft. shipping container, and designed to be easily transported and quickly deployed to off-grid sites. Each unit has the capacity to distribute renewable energy to up to five households, and consists of a pre-assembled solar array, wind power unit, bio-diesel generator, and batteries for storage.