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Thought exercise: Imagine, if you will, a house.
From "What’s threatening utilities: Innovation at the edge of the grid "
<snip>
This house is built (or retrofitted) efficiently, with thick walls, good insulation, and triple-glazed windows, so it wastes very little energy. It is heated and cooled by a system with sensors and separate vents in each room, controlled by a smart thermometer like the Nest that learns the habits of the house’s inhabitants and maximizes efficiency around them.
On our house’s roof is an array of solar panels that, at the mid-afternoon peak, provides more power than the house needs. For supplemental generation, when the panels aren’t producing or grid power is unusually expensive, the house’s basement contains a small microturbine running on natural gas (or biogas, if you prefer).
Excess energy from the solar panels can be stored in a fuel cell like the Bloom box, or in an appliance-sized battery pack, or in the batteries of the electric car parked in the garage.
...
All of this stuff — panels, batteries, heating and cooling system, appliances — is tied together by software that tracks consumption and monitors price signals from the utility. The software can ramp up generation, reduce or delay non-essential consumption, store more energy, or sell more energy to the grid, depending on which choice is more valuable at the moment. In the event of a blackout or other grid failure, the software can “island” the house from the grid, at least temporarily, by cranking up the microturbine, emptying the batteries or the fuel cell, and dialing down unnecessary consumption.
This house is built (or retrofitted) efficiently, with thick walls, good insulation, and triple-glazed windows, so it wastes very little energy. It is heated and cooled by a system with sensors and separate vents in each room, controlled by a smart thermometer like the Nest that learns the habits of the house’s inhabitants and maximizes efficiency around them.
On our house’s roof is an array of solar panels that, at the mid-afternoon peak, provides more power than the house needs. For supplemental generation, when the panels aren’t producing or grid power is unusually expensive, the house’s basement contains a small microturbine running on natural gas (or biogas, if you prefer).
Excess energy from the solar panels can be stored in a fuel cell like the Bloom box, or in an appliance-sized battery pack, or in the batteries of the electric car parked in the garage.
...
All of this stuff — panels, batteries, heating and cooling system, appliances — is tied together by software that tracks consumption and monitors price signals from the utility. The software can ramp up generation, reduce or delay non-essential consumption, store more energy, or sell more energy to the grid, depending on which choice is more valuable at the moment. In the event of a blackout or other grid failure, the software can “island” the house from the grid, at least temporarily, by cranking up the microturbine, emptying the batteries or the fuel cell, and dialing down unnecessary consumption.
http://grist.org/article/whats-threatening-utilities-innovation-at-the-edge-of-the-grid/
