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The book

Cut the Cord

How to Achieve Energy Independence by Joining the Solar-Powered Microgrid Revolution

From Mycrogrid founder and CEO Vincent Battaglia, MBA — the case for treating your home as its own power system: produce it, store it, and stop renting it from the utility. Real control begins when you stop asking for permission.

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Cover of the book Cut the Cord by Vincent Battaglia

Inside the book

What you'll take away

Reasonable, not radical

Energy independence isn't fringe living “off the grid.” The typical solar household looks a lot like you or someone you know.

What a microgrid really is

Solar plus battery storage becomes a stand-alone system that runs day and night — autonomous, uninterrupted, and yours.

Why solar alone goes dark

Grid-tied solar shuts off when the utility blacks out — even at noon. Storage is the piece that keeps your power on.

Keep your own money

Stop renting power from a monopoly. Generating and storing your own energy is how you take control of an ever-rising bill.

How a microgrid works

Produce, store, and keep your power on

The same loop the book lays out: panels generate DC power, a charge controller routes it, a battery banks what you don't use, and an inverter delivers clean AC to the loads that matter most — running on or off the grid.

Solar microgrid flow diagram Solar array feeds a charge controller over DC, which routes power to a storage battery and a DC-to-AC inverter that supplies the critical load. The charge controller, battery, and inverter form your microgrid. YOUR MICROGRID SOLAR ARRAY CHARGE CONTROLLER DC / AC INVERTER CRITICAL LOAD STORAGE BATTERY DC DC AC DC
Solid arrows show power flow. DC = direct current, AC = alternating current. The dashed boundary is the stand-alone microgrid — it can run with or without the utility grid.

Solar factoid

In one minute, the sun produces enough energy to power the entire planet's electric needs for a full year.

Praise for the book

What the industry is saying

Solar and storage are technology's ultimate symbiotic relationship. Together they maximize the benefits for the consumer and the future of clean energy.
Bernadette Del Chiaro Executive Director, California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA)
Solar and storage have been closely linked since the space race. Falling prices and advances in solar and storage technology promise a power shift that everyone can take part in.
Richard Lawrence Executive Director, North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP)
A passionate and sharp read on the microgrid-led revolution of our times.
Alfredo A. Martinez-Morales, Ph.D. Managing Director, SC-Research Initiative for Solar Energy, UC Riverside

Chapter by chapter

A path from skeptic to self-powered

Ten chapters that move from busting myths and utility "hot buttons" to keeping your money, cleaning up the grid, and building a microgrid of your own.

  1. 01 Reasonable, Not Radical
  2. 02 Busting Myths
  3. 03 Hot Buttons
  4. 04 Keep Your Money
  5. 05 Help Clean Up
  6. 06 Fight the Stereotype
  7. 07 Corporate Rock Star
  8. 08 A Better World
  9. 09 A New Era
  10. 10 Mycrogrid®

About the author

Vincent Battaglia, MBA

Vincent is the founder and CEO of Mycrogrid and Renova Energy Corp., doing business as Renova Solar. He started Renova in 2006 out of his MBA thesis at UC Riverside and founded Mycrogrid in 2014 to put a private grid — within the grid — in the hands of everyday homeowners.

  • Renova Solar named "America's First Professionally Accredited Solar Company" by NABCEP
  • SunPower's 2014 Residential National Dealer of the Year
  • Named to Inc. magazine's 500|5000 three years running
Vincent Battaglia holding a copy of Cut the Cord

The founder's take

The Utility Era is ending.

In his own words, Battaglia frames where energy is actually heading — and why a solar panel alone no longer tells the whole story.

Solar is not just about the bill

Most people still think solar is about saving money on a utility bill. The founder argues that mindset is already outdated.

Energy is going local

The future of energy, the book argues, is local, sovereign, and utility-independent — not rented from a monopoly.

The start of decentralization

Mycrogrid systems are not just a technology shift. They are the beginning of the decentralization of the utility industry.

“The future of energy is local. It's sovereign. And it's utility-independent.” This isn't just a technology shift — it's the beginning of utility decentralization.

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Get a copy

Buy it, listen to it, or pick one up free

Have it shipped, stream the audiobook, or stop by the Palm Desert office for a free copy. A portion of the book's proceeds is donated to nonprofits.

Ships home

Paperback on Amazon

Order the print edition and have it delivered straight to your door.

Order → Publisher

Order from Simon & Schuster

Buy direct from the publisher in print or digital editions.

Order → Audiobook

Listen on Audible

Stream or download the audiobook for the commute, the gym, or the job site.

Listen → Free in person

Pick one up in Palm Desert

Come by the Mycrogrid office at Cook & Hovley and Vincent will personally hand you a free copy — no catch, no pitch.

Visit →

Read it, then live it

The book explains the why. A Solar Studio assessment shows your how.

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