The impact of losing electricity varies widely depending on who or what is losing power. If an individual household loses electricity for a couple of hours, it might be a nuisance, but far from life-threatening. However, a loss of electricity at a hospital or any other health care facility is definatly
a life-threatening scenario. A higher electrical load and an often spread out regional footprint, it makes sense to create an interconnected network of solar panels and battery storage to continue to power these types of institutions in the event of an outage.
There are a number of applications of microgrids, from powering critical response buildings to providing grid resiliency for communities. One of the major benefits of a microgrid is that it can extend beyond a single house or building and create a tiny electricity-isolated community. A perfect example of this would be a microgrid between a fire department, a school, and a senior center, which could provide benefits to first responders, the at-risk population, and a possible shelter from the storm all under one interconnected grid system.