The grid is old, electrical upgrades are complex and unnecessarily expensive. While mobile batteries could solve this, current options lack the reliability needed for widespread use. Critical Loop is building a universal power interface to standardize electrical upgrades, tap into unused grid capacity, and ensure mobile power sources meet high reliability standards. This blog post explains how our three core products—Controller, Combiner, and Battery—work together to meet challenging design requirements and deliver reliable microgrid solutions.

The Problem: Why the Electrical System is Broken

We are facing a load growth crisis, and the grid isn’t keeping up. Traditionally, increasing grid capacity meant costly, time-consuming infrastructure upgrades. But with load growing at an unprecedented rate, we can’t afford to rely on decade-long transmission projects. This isn’t just about efficiency or sustainability—America’s ability to rapidly support data center expansion, reshored manufacturing, and electrified transportation is critical to economic prosperity and national security.

Microgrids are becoming essential to fill the gaps left by grid outages and power constraints. Our previous blog post dives deeper into why (https://criticalloop.com/blog/reimagining-power-with-mobile-grids). However, the battery technology needed to enable this shift is still in its nascent stages. Challenging design requirements that rapidly deployable batteries need to meet include accounting for shock, vibration, wet weather durability, scalable manufacturing, and the need for remote, autonomous operation.

At the site level, electrical cabinets serve as the interface between the broader grid and individual facilities. While long-distance grid infrastructure is fairly standardized, site-level electrical cabinets are highly customized, varying in power ratings, connection points, and voltages. Integrating new power assets—whether batteries, solar, wind or fossil fuel generators —requires extensive electrician time, risking repeated outages and creating a major bottleneck in deployment.

The Solution: Critical Loop’s Universal Power Interface

Designing a microgrid in theory is easy—seamless integration and intelligent control are the real challenges, as the failures of prior microgrid startups have demonstrated. After deploying microgrids for airports, industrial warehouses, and large EV charging sites, we at Critical Loop realized that standardized hardware and software interfaces could vastly accelerate timelines, simplify operations, and increase reliability for microgrid deployments. That insight led to the development of our universal power interface, backed by our controller, combiner and battery products, which I will now explain in more detail.

1. Controller: A Universal Intelligence Layer

Our controller is the intelligence layer orchestrating every microgrid deployment. It connects to all field units, monitors and controls power output, and alerts operators to critical issues. Designed for resilience, it has enough backup power to withstand power outages for up to a week and uses the same reliable communication protocols as those used by aerospace engineers for the real-time control and autonomous power management of space satellites.

It operates independently or alongside our combiner and batteries. Developed in partnership with utilities and recognized as a robust power control system, it helps power-constrained sites bypass the standard five-year interconnection queue (https://emp.lbl.gov/queues), unlocking megawatts of additional capacity in months.

Unlike many controllers, ours is fully interoperable across manufacturers, seamlessly integrating and controlling batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and diesel generators. Advanced algorithms optimize charging and discharging across assets while enabling peak shaving during periods of high electricity costs. Additionally, high-fidelity, polyphasic power monitoring ensures quick resolution of power quality issues.

2. Combiner: A Universal Power Outlet

Our combiner is the central connection point for all power assets in the field. Acting as a standardized electrical interface, it abstracts the complexities of individual customer electrical cabinets, making it easy to integrate new power assets without extensive electrical upgrades. By consolidating diverse electrical requirements—much like a household power outlet—it simplifies installations, reduces complexity, and ensures grid-agnostic deployment.

Equipped with built-in intelligence and full networking capabilities, our combiner enables remote operation and seamless transitions between power sources. It scales to the unique needs of each facility, accommodating large numbers of assets with an unprecedented level of integration and control—an approach currently patent-pending.

Designed for flexibility and durability, the combiner is modular (individual units range from 1200A to 4000A), seismic-rated, and built to withstand demanding environments. Its structure allows for easy transport, whether craned or forklifted, ensuring rapid and adaptable deployment.

3. Battery: A Rapidly Deployable Storage Asset

We are combining the best of stationary battery systems with the automotive industry’s expertise in safely and reliably transporting high-voltage batteries to create efficient, mobile, and highly dependable energy solutions. Avoiding the central pitfall of prior designs, we are moving away from legacy, third-party control systems to our full-stack, integrated control solution (also backed by our controller).

Our fleet of relocatable megawatt-scale batteries can be stacked to different power needs and deployed with less than 24 hours’ notice. Designed with state-of-the-art fire detection and prevention systems, these batteries ensure safety and reliability in even the most challenging environments. They are built to endure heavy vibrations, making them ideal for mobile applications. Their efficient cooling systems minimize vampire power drain, ensuring optimal performance with minimal energy loss.

Easier to permit than stationary assets, our mobile battery systems accelerate deployment and streamline the permitting process. They are highly financially optimized across all federal and state incentives, offering a competitive $/kWh rate that makes them an economical choice across many applications. As battery technology evolves and costs continue to drop, our batteries can be swapped out for the latest advancements, ensuring continuous access to the most cutting-edge technology.

The Radical New Future of Microgrids

Building cost-effective and rapidly deployable microgrids requires standardized electrical interfaces. Grid flexibility, reliability, and time-to-power are only increasing the need for these solutions. We founded Critical Loop to empower businesses and communities with reliable, flexible, and affordable energy. The energy revolution is underway.