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S2A Modular Builds Homes With Nothing but 100% Solar Power and a Touch of Tesla Magic

As I grew up, I always had difficulty understanding why alternating current is the standard and norm in society. Guess what, all that's changing, and these days, the powers of direct current are being reaped, even as far as operating entire businesses with these dynamics, much like S2A is doing.
S2A Modular MegaFactory 25 photos
Photo: S2A Modular
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AC (Alternating Current) and DC (Direct Current) refer to the two types of electrical transmission our world is governed by. AC is the stuff flowing outward from your wall and is part of the grid, while DC is flowing in your batteries. There are benefits and downsides to both, but DC is being researched because power flows at a constant level and doesn't oscillate as it does in AC systems. That oscillation is a way to control just how much juice flows from your wall into your home's utilities, an obstacle for DC/DC functionality but one that's now been overcome.

One team reaping the benefits of the technological advancements made in the field of electrical current is S2A, a crew that I've just learned about with a focus-driven aim on creating custom, luxury, and self-sustaining homes, businesses, and communities. Yes, quite the big plans for this California-born team.

However, S2A has taken things further than just building modular, green, and self-sustaining homes; they are currently the proud owners and operators of the "first off-grid factory in the world powered entirely by a Megapack." Yes, the Tesla Megapacks are at work here and, might I add, doing one hell of a job of powering S2A's MegaFactory. You can understand why it's called that.

Tesla Megapack
Photo: Tesla
If you're aware of this Tesla gear, great, but for those that aren't, the easiest way to help you understand what the Megapacks are is by comparing them to nothing more than shipping container-sized battery packs. One unit can store up to 3 Megawatt-hours of juice. What's that mean? Enough juice to support one average home's electricity consumption for 3,600 hours. Imagine what the result would be if solar panels were thrown into the mix, and that's precisely what M2A has chosen to do.

Another crew that joined the venture is FreeVolt, a solar energy systems manufacturer from over in Europe that is providing the S2A MegaFactory not just with your traditional solar panels but updated PVGraf panels that boast a higher level of efficiency in capturing the Sun's power, and they do this by using nothing more than graphene. According to FreeVolt, these babies can convert "100% of the solar energy captured by the PV module is transferred into usable electrical energy." What more could you want?

PVGraf
Photo: FreeVolt
What does all this mean for S2A and, quite possibly, the world? It means an end to on-grid dependency. Better yet, it means that we can now fuel our production processes, robots and all, based solely on nothing more than the power of the Sun. Sure, this has been done before, but rarely, if ever, on such a tight-knit, efficient, and scalable level.

In the future, we're going to be seeing more and more such setups powering production processes in an array of fields. After all, building homes, S2A's business, is no easy or small-scale task, and if this industry can operate perfectly fine with this setup, why wouldn't, let's say, the agricultural or automotive industries? All you need are more panels funneling power into the Megapacks and some light hardware to ensure that you don't fry your bots if Tesla doesn't integrate that stuff into the Megapack already. Then there's the countless software that ensures these packs function within safe parameters.

No matter how you look at it, what S2A and the other teams involved have set in motion is a change, and by the looks of it, for the better. I wonder when we'll run out of lithium?
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Editor's note: Images in the gallery showcase Tesla Megapacks, FreeVolt solar panels of varying kinds and arrangements, and S2A Modular home projects and interiors.

About the author: Cristian Curmei
Cristian Curmei profile photo

A bit of a nomad at heart (being born in Europe and raised in several places in the USA), Cristian is enamored with travel trailers, campers and bikes. He also tests and writes about urban means of transportation like scooters, mopeds and e-bikes (when he's not busy hosting our video stories and guides).
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