Sesame Solar Debuts World’s First 100% Renewable Mobile Nanogrids

JACKSON, MI (June 16, 2022) -- Sesame Solar, the company creating global climate resilience solutions, today unveils the world’s first 100% renewable mobile nanogrids. Using solar and green hydrogen, the nanogrids generate clean, off-grid power and come pre-fabricated to meet essential services and emergency response needs across a variety of scenarios.

According to the UN, 560 catastrophic weather events are expected to happen each year by 2030, costing lives and billions of dollars globally. In 2021 alone, these weather crises cost $343B of economic loss. As organizations and governments work to prepare for the next climate disaster, a central challenge is bringing connectivity to impacted communities in a fast, flexible, and fossil-fuel-free way.

“Our nanogrids are changing the trajectory of the effects of climate change while providing communities in distress with the power they need to access critical resources,” says Sesame Solar CEO Lauren Flanagan. “While we can’t stop hurricanes or wildfires from happening, we can create solutions that help communities recover efficiently without causing further damage to the environment.”

Sesame Solar presents a 100% renewable and modular solution that, unlike predecessors, does not depend on diesel gas -- a fossil fuel that is known to add polluting particles to air and water ecosystems, carbon monoxide gas, and increasing pollution in communities already suffering after extreme events.

Instead, simply “Open Sesame” by electronically unfolding the nanogrid’s retractable solar array and the energy-independent solution inside is ready to use and starts generating power within 15 minutes.

To see Sesame Solar in action, view the YouTube video

Tech & Specs

Launching today, Sesame Solar is debuting next-generation renewable mobile nanogrids that use solar power and green hydrogen (a low-carbon power that has no negative impact on the atmosphere). The new nanogrids feature:

• Modularity: Solutions can be tailored to each community’s need, with the most popular use cases being medical centers, water filtration, and communication services.

• Renewable Energy: Depending on the model, nanogrids can produce between 3-20kW of solar power, with total battery storage of 15-150 kWh. Nanogrids are engineered to meet peak and average use and provide uninterrupted, sustainable power.

• Nanogrids offer weeks of autonomy by combining complementary forms of renewable energy generation and storage in a closed-loop, carbon-free, reliable system.

• Transportation: Easy to transport, nanogrids range in length from 10 to 40 feet and can be moved by forklift, crane, truck, train, ship, cargo plane, or helicopter for use anytime and anywhere.

• Easy to use: Nanogrids are shipped ready to use and can be set up by one person, generating power within 15 minutes.

• Hurricane strength: Designed and tested for extreme weather conditions, including high winds and heavy rain, nanogrids can be used and repurposed for 20 years. In fact, Sesame Solar was called upon to support the Island of Dominica in the wake of the devastation created by Hurricane Maria, and the company also worked with Comcast to support communication recovery after Hurricane Ida, among other use cases.

Use Cases

The U.S. Air Force, major telcos, and emergency response organizations are already using Sesame Solar’s nanogrids. The most popular use cases include:

• Medical response: Whether medical responders need to set up a mobile clinic or groups need to establish a medical response operation, the nanogrids serve as an off-grid power and patient triage option.

• Critical community services: This includes serving as a central command center within neighborhoods such as a gathering spot to receive information, mobile offices, training centers, or even classrooms.

• Clean water: Nanogrids can power water purification and deliver clean water.

• Communications: Nanogrids can keep critical communications online at the site of infrastructure or by powering mobile Wi-Fi stations if infrastructure does go down.

• Emergency response: Emergency response situations require off-grid power for all of the use cases mentioned above as part of an effective response to deliver the aid and essential services citizens need in dire circumstances. Nanogrids can ensure all of these essential services remain operational in any emergency response scenario.

• EV charging: Designed to be towed by electric trucks, the nanogrids on-board Level II charger can provide up to 250 e-miles per day to the truck, providing a 100% fossil fuel-free Disaster Response solution. They can also charge last-mile mobility EVs like e-bikes and e-scooters–practical modes of transportation when roads are blocked.

>> In Other News: Reminder: First Solar to Host Analyst Day on September 7, 2023

About Sesame Solar’s Founding Team

Sesame Solar is co-founded by Lauren Flanagan (CEO), Namit Jhanwar (CTO), and Adam Kasefang (VP Product Manufacturing), who have worked together for nearly 5 years.

A lifelong entrepreneur, Flanagan is an early SaaS pioneer who worked with Steve Jobs at NeXT as a leading NeXT software developer. Since then, Flanagan has started five companies and serves on the board of Springboard Enterprises, an accelerator that’s supported 900 female-founded companies, resulting in 25 IPOs and 250 M&As to date. Flanagan is an active investor and advisor in women-led companies, including HelloAlice, Vyv, Joylux, Nopsec, and Shyft Moving.

An energy systems engineer turned entrepreneur, Jhanwar has a decade of experience in implementing energy-efficient projects and designing energy systems. Jhanwar began his career in India, helping public and private sector organizations achieve and/or surpass their energy reduction goals by conducting energy audits and implementing energy efficiency projects with a focus on clean power. He continued this work in the US as an EDF Climate Corps Fellow and helped a leading Pharmaceutical company surpass its energy reduction goals in 24 weeks by implementing energy saving projects.

A mechanical expert who can prototype and build just about anything, Kasefang has 13 years of prototyping, manufacturing, and maintaining HVAC equipment, trucks, electric motorcycles, and solar-powered containers and trailers for a variety of applications, including mining.