Faith Technologies recently installed a clean energy microgrid at the Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve in Appleton, aiming to reduce the preserve’s operating costs through more efficient use of energy resources.

“The sustainability that’s built into this program with the microgrid is off the charts,” said Mike Jansen, CEO of Menasha-based Faith Technologies, at the recent unveiling. “It’s probably the most sophisticated microgrid in the country.”

He says there are about 300 microgrids currently active in the United States, used by facilities and organizations that have critical energy needs such as hospitals or big data centers.

This microgrid was designed and installed by Faith Technologies in partnership with energy management company Schneider Electric. Bubolz Nature Preserve covers about 700 acres in total, including a 18,000-square-foot headquarters building.

With the microgrid installed, the preserve will be “running totally independent from the grid,” according to John Bergstrom, chairman of the board for Bubolz.

The microgrid includes solar panels, a hydrogen fuel cell, a lithium-ion battery storage system, a micro-turbine and a natural gas generator. The system connects to a power control center through which the mix of distributed energy resources can be tweaked to find the most efficient combination of resources. Read the full story here.