Are utilities missing the rooftop solar opportunity?
The grim reaper is stalking utilities across America. Instead of a scythe, he’s carrying a solar panel in his hands. As homeowners and businesses increasingly cover their roofs with solar panels, the centralized power grid…
Smart meters are here. So why isn’t dynamic pricing?
In the last few years, utilities across the U.S. have installed millions of smart meters, a move that was expected to usher in new pricing options. But utilities have been slow to adopt dynamic pricing…
Spain’s Solar Pullback Threatens Pocketbooks
Justo Cruz Rodríguez faces ruin after investing in solar power in the Spanish town of Águilas. ÁGUILAS, Spain — Six years ago, Justo Cruz Rodríguez, who runs a small business here designing signs, was looking…
Copenhagen Pioneers Smart Electric Bike Sharing
The city hopes people will zip around on electric bikes instead of clogging the streets with cars Photo: gobike To Sleep, Perchance to Recharge: Copenhagen is planning to launch an electric bike-sharing system. Copenhagen,…
Silicon Carbide Nanomechanical Switches
NEMS switches can operate at extremely high temperatures, endure millions of cycles, and could lead to low-power logic By Lily Hay Newman Photo: Philip Feng/Case Western Reserve University Radical Relay: A silicon carbide nanomechanical…
Toshiba moves into German solar
Toshiba Corporation has entered the solar power market in Germany with a new on-site consumption model for apartment buildings. While Germany introduced a feed-in tariff system for renewable energy in 2000, and the adoption of…
Who cares about residential demand response?
The vast majority of the demand response action today is in the commercial and industrial sector. But if you look at the data, there’s a big slice of untouched demand pie in the residential space….
Distributed Generation into the Smarter Grid
Renewables and distributed generation are here to stay. Grid operators should recognize that distributed supplies must be treated like any other supply source and be fully integrated into transmission and distribution network operations systems. Already…
