In a recent interview, Professor Tony Seba of Stanford University predicted that solar+storage was going to achieve parity with average grid transmission costs by 2022. This is what he called “god parity”, because even if utilities generated at zero cents per kWh, they could not compete with when energy was available.
Well, today I learned of the second revolutionary technology, after SonnenCommunity, that comes packaged and disruptive, ready to tell utilities and regulatory agencies to Go Away when they become, uh, difficult.
I’m not saying it works. I’m not saying it will win. I don’t know how efficient it is. But it is an example of the kind of high technology competition electric and gas utilities will be facing in the next several years. They are, as I’ve written before, the walking dead. If they want a future, they need to get with the program, and start supporting solar PV+storage in a big way. Otherwise, they deserve the oblivion they deserve, as do all that continue to support them.
Introducing Solpad, the residential microgrid, by SunCulture Solar.
Take that, Elon Musk.
Note that a modular system like Solpad, with its trivial interconnections, threatens to disrupt not only fossil fuel energy, but existing solar installation companies. The simplicity of interconnect might be worth some efficiency loss.