Treebones Resort Upgrades Power Infrastructure with Micro-Grid 

Treebones Resort in Big Sur, CA. is an off-grid Eco resort in Big Sur California with 20 buildings that accommodate 70 guests and was recently awarded “Best Out of the Ordinary Hotels in the World” by “TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards”.   
 

Treebones pulled off the perfect trifecta in February 2022 by drastically reducing its carbon footprint and operating expenses, while improving the reliability of their power system. They do it with an Energy Security’s Energy Conductor™, which acts as the conductor for the property’s entire energy infrastructure. Energy Security(ES), is all about making sure our clients have power, no matter the circumstances. 

Time To Upgrade 

The owners wanted to upgrade the systems to make the resort eco-friendlier, reduce operating expenses, and provide resilient always-on-power. Easier said than done in an area known for foggy days in the summer, which reduces the new Solar PV system’s production and no utility grid to tie into. Redundant backup systems and a new battery energy storage system, designed and engineered by ES and all managed with the Energy Conductor’s sophisticated software, make for a truly resilient and eco-friendly solution that even the Sea Otters would love.   

The resort previously ran exclusively on a Capstone Turbine generator that is still serviceable and was state of the art when installed 17 years ago. The owners wanted to keep the generator as part of the updated energy infrastructure, but propane costs were rising quickly and the system wasn’t as reliable as the resort required. Consequently, they looked at upgrading their entire energy infrastructure.   

The Ultimate Solution 

 After interviewing numerous potential vendors, the owners chose ES to engineer and design an eco-friendly, compact, resilient energy system to meet the resorts’ needs today and well into the future. ES engineered a path to integrate the Turbine generator (no one else wanted to touch it!), while adding a new Solar PV Field, redundant generators, and upgrading the electrical switchgear to ES’s Energy Conductor™, all integrated with our Advanced Battery Energy Storage System™ (BESS).    

Treebones’ new energy infrastructure is driven by a 54kW Energy Conductor with redundant (N+1) hot swappable inverters and Remote-Controlled Circuit Breakers (RCCBs). Energy from the 30kW solar array is stored in ES’s 150kWh Advanced Battery Energy Storage System™ and is augmented by redundant generators. The system is monitored and managed remotely at ES’s Demand Response NOC.  

 

Good for the Environment and the Bottom Line  

With ES’s Energy Conductor acting as the conductor for the resort’s energy demands, Treebones should realize operating cost savings of well over $100,000 annually. Incorporating renewable resources cuts their carbon footprint in half, keeping their promise of “perching lightly” into practice and provides a much more resilient and efficient energy system to power the resort.    

About Energy Security, Inc.

ES’s Energy Conductor™ delivers consistent, clean, efficient, resilient energy whether on or off-grid and regardless of the public grid’s condition. ES is dedicated to providing customers with comprehensive energy systems that are unparalleled in the residential and light commercial market.   

Call us at 408-353-4374, email us at info@energysecurity.com, or visit our website at energysecurity.com