Original 2021 statement: A ‘next billion-dollar industry’ will be fully integrated home microgrids - with renewable energy (solar/wind), batteries for storage, tech to direct it directly into your car, all managed through a thermostat like a device
What Jim has written about this
From “Daily Inspiration: “It’s time to move from triage to tomorrow!”” (January 2023)
Next month will mark 3 years since individuals and organizations began to go through the largest disruption they will ever know. With lockdowns, a staggering loss of human life, work-from-home, and the rapid emergence of a digital lifestyle and e-commerce infrastructure - we all had to learn to adapt quickly.
As I close out this series of 23 Trends for 2023, I’ve been thinking long and hard as to what the final, all-encompassing trend should be; to be honest, I’ve had several. But they’ve all had a common theme - all of us finally have the chance to look forward to what’s next , rather than just concentrating right now on what we need to do to get through. In a conference call with a client the other day, I was given a gift when he mentioned that in his mind, they weres finally able to move away from triage - fast, quick steps to simply survive - to thinking about their future again. That’s it!
One of the biggest energy opportunities in the next decade is to be found in an integrated home-energy wind/solar/battery/thermostat/iOT integrated system.
From “Daily Inspiration: “Ignore those people who say that the future is too hard, that it can’t be done, and that it is too expensive. (Because they don’t know how the future works!)”” (July 2022)
Right now, the vast majority of new energy projects in North America involve renewables - solar, wind - and battery technologies. Bloomberg has stated that of $11.5 trillion going into energy investment by 2050, 85% will be into wind, solar, renewables, grid, and smart energy tech. Oil is over - we all know that.
Architecture! Soon, it will be economically feasible to generate solar power through see-through windows that are essentially solar-generating glass. So, buildings become their own power sources, simply by standing. Buildings, particularly homes, are not yet really energy smart, but they will be! Small in-home microgrid technology that connects your thermostats, computers, solar and wind generation tech, your car, and batteries to maximize your energy potential and reduce your energy use are the next multi-billion market opportunity - and there is probably someone in a garage right now developing something that will blow your mind in less than a decade - and who will be wildly rich. Local area neighborhood energy microgrids - remember that phrase.
Want to blow your mind? EXISTING renewable technology could theoretically capture 6,700 Petwatt hours of energy (PWh). In 2019, the total global energy demand was 65PWh! What’s that mean? Wind, solar and battery science AS IT EXISTS TODAY if deployed, is more than up to doing the job. 100 times more!
From “Article in Dubai Oil and Gas News: “The Era of Connected, Intelligent Energy is Here”” (June 2023)
Carbon is over as solar, wind, and renewable energy come to dominate our future.
The home thermostat, which has gained intelligence through devices like the Nest and ecobee thermostats, is about to take on a larger role in managing this internal home energy grid.
Grid-connected energy storage: Essentially, great big batteries store energy generated by the distributed energy resources in the system. Solar is only generated while the sun is up, and wind energy only happens on a windy day, but grid-connected energy storage solves this problem. There is a huge amount of investment, innovation, initiative, and idea generation going into this. As I explained many years ago: “The future of just about everything is all about batteries.”
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
Daily Inspiration: “It’s time to move from triage to tomorrow!”
Daily Inspiration: “Ignore those people who say that the future is too hard, that it can’t be done, and that it is too expensive. (Because they don’t know how the future works!)”
Article in Dubai Oil and Gas News: “The Era of Connected, Intelligent Energy is Here”