We are concluding our mini-series on home energy and power management trends with a review and summary of the big trends in electrification inside and outside the home:

Trends at Home

• 2 x Residential Load Increase. Electricity consumption of households will more than double in the near future. Read this again and consider the implications for the power system and market opportunities for companies like YouSolar.

• Hell-or-High-Water Power. Energy resilience is becoming an important consideration for homeowners. Severe weather and wildfires driven by climate change are here to stay.

• EVs as Backup Generators Everywhere. Electric vehicles (EVs) can serve as a second layer of backup, replacing generators for the home. EVs with power outlets will also dramatically improve private and public disaster relief.

Trends on the Grid

• Electricity Prices Will Only Go Up. The necessary investments for grid modernization and energy cost of renewable power, including management of intermittence with storage, will keep driving electricity prices up. The cost of energy from independent power systems like the PowerBloc is already competitive in California now and will only get better.

• Store Energy and Charge Your EV Dynamically. Flexible electricity pricing plans will favour customers who can store energy and/or charge their EV dynamically. Forget the fixed time of use (TOU) rates. Energy providers will send real-time price signals to home batteries and EVs. In fact, it is already happening with a Community Choice Aggregator in Marin, California.

• Utilities Do Not Want Your Solar Energy at Noon. As we discussed in a previous update, solar production in self-sufficient homes must match the loads. The same is true for the grid. Utilities no longer want your solar energy at noon, when it has no value to the energy market. As a result net, Energy Metering programs are being scaled back, also driving the need for storage.

Illustration: Shutterstock

What does all of this mean for YouSolar?

Utilities have changed slowly, if at all, in the past 100 years. But we are in the early stages of a Global Sustainability Revolution that has the Magnitude of the Industrial Revolution and the Speed of the Digital Revolution.

Dinosaurs ruled the world for 165 million years. Then suddenly everything changed quickly. The world of the centralized power grid is over.

Residential battery systems will play a significant role in this revolution and a trillion-dollar market opportunity lies ahead of us.