Energy Technology Archives - Page 6 of 17

Reducing Peak Demand Charges

Sep 17, 2019 | Battery Storage Systems, Commercial Energy Storage, Commercial Solar, Energy Technology, Peak Demand Charges

Unless you have rooftop solar, you’re probably incredibly unhappy about rising electric bills. This misery is even worse for commercial customers since — in addition to energy charges (billed on a kilowatt-hour basis) — they also pay for peak demand...

Living With Public Safety Power Shutoffs

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...

Whole House Electrification with Howard Wenger

May 15, 2019 | Cheap Energy, Climate, Energy Saving Tips, Energy Technology, Whole House Electrification

To slow the global warming trend, a number of states have committed to the aspirational goal of 100% carbon-free energy. As a species that literally evolved from burning wood and hydrocarbons, how can we possibly run our modern lives and economy without fossil fuels?...

New Rules for Energy Storage in CA – with Josh Weiner

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...

Which Solar Panels Should I Buy?

Apr 24, 2019 | Energy Technology, Solar Power System

The most common questions that prospective solar customers ask is “Which solar panels should I buy?” That’s a tough question to answer, and arguably maybe not the most important question (more about that later). I initially got into the solar business for altruistic...

Rolling Back Fuel Economy Standards – Dumb Idea

Mar 8, 2019 | Energy Politics, Energy Technology, Environment

Energy is so important to our civilization that, going back to the invention of fire, there continues to be an abundance of great ideas. Unfortunately, along the way there are also ideas that simply don’t make sense – such as perpetual motion machines and concepts...