Menifee's 'microgrid' community offers energy self-sufficiency

On Saturday, people across the globe will roll up their sleeves to help save the environment in honor of Earth Day. Whether that's planting a tree, or cleaning up neighborhoods. One local neighborhood is "going green" together in the first-in-the-nation microgrid community.

Blue skies and sunshine have always been an asset in Southern California, but now these rays are bringing an added value for homeowners in one neighborhood in Menifee.

"We're very confident on saving on the energy bills," said Aaron Perez, one of the first to move in to a microgrid community in Menifee. It's the first in the nation.

"Not having a huge electric bill, and the obviously it's a 'smart' home, so everything is super automated and user-friendly," said Perez.

It's a new project by KB Homes: 219 plots in its Shadow Mountain community, that if disconnected from Southern California Edison, can run on a solar-powered community battery.

"What a microgrid is, is the ability for a battery to operate, separate from a utility, a number of lots," said Scott Hansen, vice president of KB Homes Forward Planning and Land Development. "If you want to think of it like an island of power unto itself."

Every home is built with solar panels and a battery.

"We actually have two batteries here, and this is the inverter that converts the solar electricity to household power," said Addison Marks, SunPower.

The homeowner can then decide to use the solar energy to run their home or keep the battery full and use the utility company's power.

But what makes this subdivision unique is that all the homes will also connect to a giant battery the size of a shipping container, so any extra sunshine will be stored there for an emergency. And when full, it can power the neighborhood for days.

"When California at large has a need, you'll have the rolling brownout that is common everywhere in California -- but not here," said Hansen.

The idea started two years ago with a federal grant and joint partnership between University of California-Irvine, KB Homes, SoCal Edison and SunPower.

"How do we provide reliability to our customers? How do we provide them with a product that we know that no matter what happens, our lights are on, our homes are still fully functional?" said Hansen.

And that's how the microgrid was born.

"Some of the other features you'll see in this particular home is all of the appliances in the kitchen are electric," said Hansen.

But it's not just the power -- it's how the power is used that makes this community shine.  With special insulation, vehicle charging stations and state-of-the-art appliances, this home is all about being energy-efficient.

"Typically about 40 percent in savings is what you would see compared to a home that was built say 10, 15 years ago," said Hansen.

Today only a handful of these houses are lived in, and the community battery isn't hooked up yet, as the first phase was just finished a few weeks ago. But the idea of what's to come is exciting.

"Having our own solar grid here and just having that security of not having any blackouts, it's very important," said Aaron Perez.

As is going green, and homeowners like Perez say being a little less dependent on "Big Utility" has him feeling home free.