The current system uses a meter hanging on the side of a building. It’s time to rethink the meter. The meter is built to measure power generated in front and used behind. This doesn’t work in our clean and distributed energy system.
While rooftop solar panels and electric cars are becoming commonplace, we are just beginning a process that will span decades. Currently, renewable sources constitute just 13% of our energy production, and electric vehicles (EVs) make up a mere 1 in 10 vehicles sold.
Right now, we are going through a fundamental shift in our energy system. A transition driven by the need to reduce carbon emissions and powered by innovations in renewable energy and electrification. The end result will be a convergence of
For decades, the journey towards a greener economy has operated under the idea of a “Green Premium,” a term suggesting that choosing sustainability over fossil fuels will always cost more money. This thinking is outdated and counterproductive. We’re currently in
On the one hand, the future has never looked brighter; renewable projects are bursting with potential. On the other, the transition seems to be stalling, creating a paradoxical landscape where progress appears to be moving backward while holding immense promise.
Like a server on the Internet, the home is a smart node that creates, consumes, and manages power and contributes important data to the grid. We will produce power locally from rooftop solar. We will store power in batteries in our car or garage. We will get smarter about how we take power when it’s abundant and give power when it’s scarce.
An Energy Transition is a significant shift in the mix of energy sources used to power society. We are in the midst of such a historic transition right now, our 4th. Every major shift in energy production throughout history has led to profound societal and economic transformations.
What if electricity was too cheap to meter? What if instead of paying for every kilowatt-hour, we could subscribe to energy for an affordable flat fee and use as much as we needed whenever we needed it?
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to our climate crisis. Solar got cheap. It’s now the cheapest form of energy.
We will inevitably make this transformation of the grid. Using clean energy is now cheaper than building new fossil fuel plants. Not to mention the upgraded, electronic, digitally-controlled grid is required to support the shift to electric vehicles and will allow us to be more efficient and better at everything we do from data centers to manufacturing to air conditioning our houses.