Aug 18, 2019 | Battery Storage Systems, Energy Technology, Utility Companies
PG&E, our local utility in Silicon Valley, caused a number of wildfires — including the recent Camp fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, killed 86 people and destroyed over 13,000 homes.The primary reason for this and other similar fires is that...
Jul 17, 2019 | Battery Storage Systems, Utility Companies
California utility companies recently announced their Public Safety Power Shutoff programs across the state. Bloomberg News said “California May Go Dark This Summer and Most People Aren’t Ready.” California’s Governor Gavin Newsom was quoted as saying “I’m worried. We...
May 20, 2019 | Battery Storage Systems
Upcoming electric rate changes mean that almost every home and business will eventually benefit from a battery connected to their solar system. These combined systems provide tangible economic benefits: time shifting energy use, energy arbitrage, preserving the...
May 3, 2019 | Battery Storage Systems, Cheap Energy, Commercial Energy Storage, Energy Technology
In the early days of solar and storage, virtually every system used lead acid batteries to store daytime energy and use this energy at night. Although these systems functioned well, they required a lot of maintenance (you can tell old-time battery installers from the...
Dec 5, 2018 | Battery Storage Systems, Commercial Energy Storage, Energy Technology
It’s depressing that lithium batteries get almost all of the focus in the energy storage industry. Lithium batteries have a number of advantages, including high energy density, good longevity, declining costs and established integration with electronics, vehicles and...
Nov 19, 2018 | Battery Storage Systems, Energy Politics, Energy Technology, Utility Companies
One of my favorite Hemingway books is “The Sun Also Rises.” It’s about Spain, bull fighting and a group of lost generation friends in Paris in the 1920s. But this show is an energy podcast, not a book report. So with apologies to Ernest Hemingway —...
