Our Launch of the 2019 Progress Report was a success! Gary Simon gave attendees a recap followed by Anders Rehnvall, Founder & CEO, eze System, and Raju Pandey, Cofounder and former CTO of SynapSense.
Rehnvall shared eze Systems their technology and how cleantech startup Farm from a Box is implementing it. Raju Pandey talked about the innovations Synapsense made to reduce energy usage in Data Centers.
Big changes are underway for utilities. What doors might that open for some new solutions and new business opportunities? Will the traditional utilities become more like network managers? What would be their software needs? How would rates change? Flat fees per month? How would that change incentives? What would happen to net-metering? Will utilities be required to compensate providers of alternatives to upgrading the distribution grid? Who will the buyers of power be? What will they want? How will network management interact with EV charger management? If there is extensie load management, will the need for storage disappear?
If these questions are of interest to you, sign up for our upcoming roundtable “The Future of the Utility Business: What New Opportunities it Creates” The format will be a lively discussion format with a group of experts and stakeholders in which you can participate. It will be held at 500 Capitol Mall on May 7 from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, with lunch included. Gather your questions and sign up. This is your big chance to see new opportunities.
Tues, May 7th
9:30 am to 1:30 am
500 Capitol Mall
Sacramento Ca, 95814
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.
I have no answers, but lots of questions on this one: Will wireless charging of EVs overtake plug-in charging? Clearly plug-in chargers are now dominant. But wireless “pad” chargers, like those now being sold for cellphones, are so much easier to use. There is a difference in efficiency of power transfer, but clever people will narrow that.
What was lacking was any commercial installations where from which one could get some hard data. Until now. A recent article shows that e-taxis in Oslo are recharging as they wait in line for riders at various points in the city. The chargers are made by Momentum Dynamics in the US. Taxis must have a special charge plate to use the induction coupling to power up. For taxis, the big advantage is that they are not stuck at a plug getting a top-up and missing out on fares, but are in the moving line of waiting taxis that they would be in anyway.
The charge rate is 75 kWh per hour—pretty fast. So ten minutes crawling forward in line could give a taxi a 12.5 kWh boost, or enough for about 35 miles of range. Could this work for regular drivers? Probably need a way to boot people off, like the metering lights on freeway on-ramps or places where people naturally stay only a short time like drive-up fast food or coffee shops. Or maybe they would be OK in parking lots at malls and workplaces. It will be interesting to see how this pioneer installations work out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary Simon is the Chair of CleanStarts Board. A seasoned energy executive and entrepreneur with 45 years of experience in business, government, and non-profits.