The Microgrid Systems Laboratory (MSL) is a fully-integrated innovation center for decentralized energy systems.

A collaborative effort by a range of global leaders in electricity delivery, R&D, manufacturing, standards, education, regulation, and systems integration, MSL’s mission is to accelerate the transition to a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable energy system worldwide. This applies to grid modernization in the industrialized world; to alleviating “energy poverty” in the emerging economies; and to finding synergies between the two approaches through a process of reciprocal innovation. MSL is a not-for-profit, pre-competitive innovation consortium, whose scope spans Research, Innovation, Demonstration, and Education (RIDE), as depicted in the graphic above.

MSL is the winner of the Silver Award in the Smart Grid pillar of the 2022 Energy Smart Communities Initiative Best Practices Awards Program, given by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Read more >

Innovation activities focus on market, commercialization, and ecosystem development. Research is performed by coalitions drawn from research centers in MSL’s membership consortium. Demonstration and test-bed projects including testing and validation for performance and interoperability standards at the system and sub-system module levels. And the Smart and Microgrid Training Center, operated by MSL Member Santa Fe Community College, is designed to meet future human resource needs. In summary, the Lab brings these components together in one integrated complex.

  • MSL’s core network capabilities and expertise include: technical and engineering aspects of microgrid performance and design, and related decentralized architectures; standards, policy, and regulatory regimes; business and finance models; testing and experimentation; workforce and professional development; and human, social, and cultural factors.

    With these capabilities, MSL can act nimbly to assemble international and cross-sector partnerships, including government agencies and ministries, manufacturers, utilities, system integrators, and microgrid developers and operators. Through its international network, MSL can also assist entities in understanding local market conditions and opportunities in many parts of the world.

  • Headquartered in Santa Fe, the world-renowned capitol of New Mexico, USA, MSL is endorsed by that state’s Federal Congressional delegation; the Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee of the New Mexico State Legislature; the Energy Task Force of the Santa Fe Regional Planning Authority; and the City and County of Santa Fe.

    Santa Fe itself brings numerous strengths to supporting MSL’s work, among them: world-class expertise in complex systems, visualization and modeling, and smart grid technologies in the region, including three Department of Energy national laboratories, and two microgrid demonstration projects funded with Japan’sNew Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.

    In a subsequent stage of development, the Lab will expand its agenda to include integrated smart systems design, beginning with water and ultimately including telecommunications, transportation, security and emergency response, and other complementary intelligent systems and infrastructure.