Dive summary:

• When Missouri University of Science and Technology students first began building four demonstration solar-powered homes a decade ago, people knew what "off the grid" meant, but not what a microgrid might be.
• Now, utilities are looking at what their businesses might be like if homes and businesses are built with the equipment and software necessary to be their own small power grids when the larger conventional grid goes down or is stressed for capacity.
• At the school's Solar Village, the four-home group will get storage batteries and power converters that will allow researchers to see how a real micro-grid can function.

From the article:

"The idea is that if there is a blackout, it can operate in what we call 'islanded mode' and convert to using stored solar energy." ...