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 This thinking is outdated and counterproductive.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
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.
We have reached a fantastic milestone – on sunny days in California, we produce more solar power than the state’s customers can consume. And there’s a lot more solar coming. Solar is now the cheapest form of energy you can
Cost ultimately drives any technology transition, regardless of how much people may “want” the new, new thing. All technology develops on an “S” curve. As we traverse the “S” curve, the cost get cheaper “slowly” and then “all of the sudden”. We experience a tipping point when the resultant costs get cheap enough. That tipping point is here for renewable energy.