Two ways to build energy into your development

Every site is different. The right approach depends on density, budget, and how much the resilience story matters to your buyers. We'll help you work out which fits but here's the difference in plain terms.

Full Microgrid

A shared physical energy network for the whole neighbourhood. Solar generation and battery storage are connected across a common backbone, so the community can keep critical systems running when the main grid goes down.

What it is

Each home has solar and battery, but the batteries are pooled across the cluster rather than working in isolation. That pooling is the key difference: endurance is shared, so the neighbourhood as a whole can ride through an outage far longer than any single home could on its own.

When the main grid drops, the microgrid isolates automatically and continues supplying power from shared storage. When the grid returns, it reconnects.

Honest about the trade-off

Why it suits developers

  • A genuine resilience story. In an era of more frequent storms and outages, "the power stays on here" is a real point of difference for buyers.

  • Designed in, not retrofitted. Built during construction, so there's no disruption to established homeowners later.

  • One decision. You commit once, at the design stage, rather than leaving each owner to solve it alone.

A full microgrid costs more upfront than a software-only approach. It makes the most sense where resilience genuinely matters - rural or semi-rural sites with weaker grid connections, or premium developments where it's part of the value proposition. We'll tell you honestly if your site doesn't warrant it.

Virtual Microgrid via MTR

A software-driven energy network that shares solar across the neighbourhood without a shared physical backbone. Lower cost, faster to deploy, and a strong fit for higher-density developments.

What it is

Each home has its own solar and battery. Rather than physically pooling storage, the system uses Multiple Trading Relationships (MTR) and a settlement platform to share energy across existing network connections. Surplus solar from one home can offset another's demand, lifting how much locally generated energy is actually used on site rather than exported for a low buy-back rate.

Honest about the trade-off

Why it suits developers

  • Lower cost. No shared physical backbone means a lighter capital footprint.

  • Faster to deploy. Less on-site infrastructure to coordinate.

  • Better returns on every panel. More of the solar generated is used locally rather than sold back cheaply.

Because there's no shared physical storage, this model doesn't provide neighbourhood-wide backup. If an individual home's inverter or battery goes offline, that home reverts to normal grid supply. It's the right choice when cost and payback matter more than storm resilience.