My mother is writing a book. She learned how to use a computer, and has been diligently crafting her story chapter by chapter. If only the local electric grid would cooperate. A single power disruption of a few seconds wiped out an entire chapter of her book. Now she is reworking a previous version and [...]
The greatest environmental disaster in US history began on April 20, two days before Earth Day. Even if a miracle occurred and the well stopped leaking now, the damage to the marine and coastal environments will need years to recover. Who knows – any hurricane that whips up these oiled waters may deposit pollutants miles [...]
Microgrids are natural innovation zones for the Smart Grid because they have experimentation scalability and flexibility. Smart utilities could create partnerships with academic and business campuses in their territories to deploy microgrids and study the most effective solutions for management of distributed generation. Why distributed generation? Because smart utilities should leverage the abilities of microgrids [...]
Defining the asset treatment for energy storage is vital to its rapid deployment in distributed generation as well as traditional utility applications.
A truly Smart Grid must overcome NIMBY, BANANA, and NOPE, and the answer is to optimize the grid for distributed generation.
I planned to write about mobile versus fixed energy storage in a Smart Grid, but instead will postpone that topic in favor of regulatory matters. The NARUC (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners) summer meetings are a great place to get a deep appreciation of the role that Public Utility Commissions will play in expediting [...]
Easy energy storage should be integrated into Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) to encourage the fastest adoption rate by consumers.