October 10th, 2023
Courtesy of The Washington Post, a look at how you can now get solar power with a Netflix-style subscription: No roof, no solar power. That has been the dispiriting equation shutting out roughly half of all Americans from plugging into the sun. But signing up for solar soon might be as easy as subscribing to Netflix. […]
Read more »Virtual Power Plants And Demand Flexibility
October 10th, 2023
Via Energy Central, a look at virtual power plants and demand flexibility: The rapid growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) plus digitalization of devices and artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to increased interest in virtual power plants (VPPs). The fundamentals are straightforward: aggregate large numbers of smart devices such as rooftop solar panels, smart thermostats, […]
Read more »September 1st, 2023
Via The Land Desk, commentary on the SunZia transmission project and carbon tunnel vision: This May the Biden Administration gave the final go-ahead for the SunZia transmission line, which is designed to carry power from wind facilities in New Mexico to a major grid hub in the Phoenix area. The approval — which came after 17 years of […]
Read more »Is Your Fleet Ready for Vehicle-To-Grid?
August 31st, 2023
Via GreenBiz, an article on how – before pursuing the reduced costs and environmental benefits promised by vehicle-to-grid tech – people should make these careful considerations: Fleets of electric vehicles that not only plug into a charger to sip power but also to feed power back to an electric grid or building are mostly a thing […]
Read more »August 15th, 2023
Via UtilityDive, a look at how battery storage and smart appliances make virtual power plants an increasingly viable option to address the intermittency of renewable energy: As an increasing supply of renewable energy resources requires greater reliability and resiliency for the power grid, virtual power plants are emerging as one way to ensure the supply […]
Read more »Bi-Directional Charging: Putting Gridlock In Rearview Mirror?
August 9th, 2023
Via The Atlantic, a look at the power grid in an era of growing electricity consumption: Every Texan I know has what you might call “grid anxiety,” a low-humming preoccupation with electricity that emerged after brutal winter storms kneecapped the state’s isolated power grid in February 2021. That frigid disaster triggered highway pileups and runs on grocery […]
Read more »