Listen to the full episode and explore more resources below — including a transcript and summary of the conversation.
For this episode of the Local Energy Rules Podcast, host John Farrell is joined by Dan Juhl, Partner at E2SG Partners. Juhl and his partners develop clean energy projects — in particular, integrated systems that combine solar, wind, and/or battery storage. He discusses how commercial-scale, hybrid solar and wind systems are a “real match” that can circumvent transmission system concerns.
The Electricity Transportation System is Failing
High-voltage transmission lines are overburdened, lack regulatory oversight, and as a result, are poorly planned. Accordingly, rural energy projects often come up against costly transmission upgrades to get their electricity to consumers. The alternative of building wind and solar farms closer to consumption, Dan Juhl explains, often comes up against resistance from the community.
Developers can work around the transmission system, but high-voltage lines are not the only problem. New York Times op-ed contributors Justin Gillis and Tyler H. Norris recently raised the issue of more local, 115,000 to 230,000 volt power lines — identifying them as “What Is Really Strangling the Energy Transition.” But what about even more localized power lines?
However, in his two decades of developing commercial-scale renewable power, Juhl has found that community-scale renewable energy systems actually relieve some of the stress of energy transmission.
How can we economically put commercial scale power into the system and do it in a more efficient way and not really tax the transmission system, but actually help it.
The Case for Generating Power Where It Is Consumed
Juhl explains how building smaller-scale, distributed energy generation systems that blend into the community is a win-win. When the project is close to the electricity consumers, it does not require an updated transmission line. Avoiding transmission also makes better use of the electricity, as transforming and carrying electricity incurs losses.
Projects located within the distribution network act more as a reduction of electricity load than as a generator, says Juhl. They free up space on existing transmission lines, as the community no longer needs to import the electricity they generate. Juhl stresses the importance of combating load as consumers electrify their cars and buildings. When it comes to solar’s often-raised intermittency issue, Juhl believes that pairing wind and solar together is especially effective.
For-profit electric utilities, in particular, are trying to sell the electricity that they generate. They earn a guaranteed rate of return when they build power plants, so they do not want to buy electricity from self-generators — even if that electricity is cheaper for their customers. This conflict of interest carries the most weight in regulated markets, where one utility controls electric generation and the distribution.
Developing renewable energy in rural electric cooperative territory has its own challenges, explains Juhl. Because of “all-requirements” contracts, distribution cooperatives must buy nearly all of their electricity from one wholesale provider.
Still, Juhl says utilities would be better off to embrace distributed generation. When utilities are refusing to interconnect customer-owned generation systems, customers will be pushed to pair their generation with storage. And on the combination of energy conservation, wind generation, solar generation, and battery storage? “That’s when the wire clipper comes out,” says Juhl.
Juhl believes that his “solar bank,” a battery storage and energy management system, can scale up and provide energy consumers with more options. If the utilities are concerned about their monopoly, they should be very concerned about the advent of distributed renewables with storage becoming a real problem.
For concrete examples of how towns and cities can take action toward gaining more control over their clean energy future, explore ILSR’s Community Power Toolkit. Explore local and state policies and programs that help advance clean energy goals across the country, using ILSR’s interactive Community Power Map.
By: Maria McCoy
Maria McCoy is a Researcher with the Energy Democracy Initiative. In this role, she contributes to blog posts, podcasts, video content, and interactive features.
ILSR posts about PURPA, the federal law that governs the rules and pricing connecting projects to the grid.
Episode 33 of local Energy Rules, where Ed Marston and John Farrell talk about a federal court ruling that laid the groundwork for projects like Dan’s Solar-Wind Hybrids.Read the New York Times opinion piece on
2021 Local Solar Developer Survey, which shows how electric utilities and policymakers are creating unexpected delays and added costs for solar projects.For more on the economic impact of community-owned generation facilities, read ILSR’s
The sand battery has been installed and is functioning well according to the power company
Finnish researchers have installed the world’s first fully working “sand battery” which can store green power for months at a time. The developers say this could solve the problem of year-round supply, a major issue for green energy. Using low-grade sand, the device is charged up with heat made from cheap electricity from solar or wind.
The sand stores the heat at around 500C, which can then warm homes in winter when energy is more expensive. Finland gets most of its gas from Russia, so the war in Ukraine has drawn the issue of green power into sharp focus. It has the longest Russian border in the EU and Moscow has now halted gas and electricity supplies in the wake of Finland’s decision to join NATO.
Concerns over sources of heat and light, especially with the long, cold Finnish winter on the horizon are preoccupying politicians and citizens alike. But in a corner of a small power plant in western Finland stands a new piece of technology that has the potential to ease some of these worries. The key element in this device? Around 100 tonnes of builder’s sand, piled high inside a dull grey silo.
These rough and ready grains may well represent a simple, cost-effective way of storing power for when it’s needed most. Because of climate change and now thanks to the rapidly rising price of fossil fuels, there’s a surge of investment in new renewable energy production. But while new solar panels and wind turbines can be quickly added to national grids, these extra sources also present huge challenges.
The toughest question is about intermittency – how do you keep the lights on when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow? Adding more renewables to the electricity grid also means you need to boost other energy sources to balance the network, as too much or too little power can cause it to collapse. The most obvious answer to these problems is large scale batteries which can store and balance energy demands as the grid becomes greener.
Right now, most batteries are made with lithium and are expensive with a large, physical footprint, and can only cope with a limited amount of excess power. But in the town of Kankaanpää, a team of young Finnish engineers have completed the first commercial installation of a battery made from sand that they believe can solve the storage problem in a low-cost, low impact way.
“Whenever there’s like this high surge of available green electricity, we want to be able to get it into the storage really quickly,” said Markku Ylönen, one of the two founders of Polar Night Energy who have developed the product. The device has been installed in the Vatajankoski power plant which runs the district heating system for the area. Low-cost electricity warms the sand up to 500C by resistive heating (the same process that makes electric fires work).
This generates hot air which is circulated in the sand by means of a heat exchanger. Sand is a very effective medium for storing heat and loses little over time. The developers say that their device could keep sand at 500C for several months. So when energy prices are higher, the battery discharges the hot air which warms water for the district heating system which is then pumped around homes, offices and even the local swimming pool.
Cost-cutting grains
The idea for the sand battery was first developed at a former pulp mill in the city of Tampere, with the council donating the work space and providing funding to get it off the ground. “If we have some power stations that are just working for a few hours in the wintertime, when it’s the coldest, it’s going to be extremely expensive,” said Elina Seppänen, an energy and climate specialist for the city.
“But if we have this sort of solution that provides flexibility for the use, and storage of heat, that would help a lot in terms of expense, I think.” One of the big challenges now is whether the technology can be scaled up to really make a difference – and will the developers be able to use it to get electricity out as well as heat?
The efficiency falls dramatically when the sand is used to just return power to the electricity grid. But storing green energy as heat for the longer term is also a huge opportunity for industry, where most of the process heat that’s used in food and drink, textiles or pharmaceuticals comes from the burning of fossil fuels.
Other research groups, such as the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory are actively looking at sand as a viable form of battery for green power. But the Finns are the first with a working, commercial system, that so far is performing well, according to the man who’s invested in the system.
“It’s really simple, but we liked the idea of trying something new, to be the first in the world to do something like this,” said Pekka Passi, the managing director of the Vatajankoski power plant. “It’s a bit crazy, if you wish, but I think it’s going to be a success.”
BMW will test a long-range battery made by Michigan-based startup Our Next Energy in the car manufacturer’s iX electric SUV, the companies announced Tuesday. ONE’s Gemini battery will use two types of battery cells, including one featuring advanced chemistry that can store more energy and enable vehicle range of at least 600 miles between charges, the company said.
The prototype automobile is expected to be finished by the end of the fiscal year, ONE said. The Gemini battery looks to cut down on the use of traditional electric vehicle battery materials like cobalt, nickel, graphite and lithium, ONE founder and CEO Mujeeb Ijaz said. Ijaz said ONE is testing a range of different electrode chemistries in Gemini while also analyzing possible tradeoffs in cost, energy and sustainability.
ONE may offer a production version of the battery in three varying sizes and prices. This would include a low-end version costing the equivalent, or potentially lower, as nickel- and cobalt-based batteries, Ijaz said.A BMW iX Flow with color-shifting material is displayed during CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 6, 2022.
The battery maker is talking to other companies about similar prototype testing of its Gemini battery. BMW’s corporate venture department in March led a $65 million funding round in the battery company. The round’s other investors included Coatue Management, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Assembly Ventures, Flex and Volta Energy Technologies.
ONE said in December that an early prototype of the Gemini battery modified in a Tesla Model S offered more than 750 miles of range, significantly more than the best production electric vehicles on the market.The logo of German car manufacturer BMW is pictured on a BMW car prior to the earnings press conference in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, March 20, 2019.
After ONE was founded in 2020, the company has centered its attention on a long-range battery that uses safer and more sustainable materials while also putting more energy into a smaller, cheaper package. BMW executive Juergen Hildinger said in a statement that the automaker is looking for opportunities “to integrate ONE’s battery technologies into models of our future BEV (battery electric vehicle) product lineup.”
Carmakers grapple with conflicting goals in designing electric-car batteries. They want high energy density for long range, but they also want to reduce the costly metals that provide that capacity.
Michigan battery startup Our Next Energy (ONE) claims to have a better way to optimize across all these factors. Now, BMW will fit an early prototype of ONE’s Gemini “Dual-Chemistry” battery into a test version of its iX EV luxury SUV to see if the claims—a heady 600 miles of range, nearly double the stock iX xDrive50’s EPA range estimates—are borne out in a variety of real-world uses. The test iX will be on the road by the end of this year, both companies say.
BMW is the logical vehicle partner to test ONE’s technology, because its investment arm—BMW i Ventures—was one of several backers in a $25 million round of financing for the battery startup last October.
Traction + Long Range
The Dual-Chemistry label on ONE’s Gemini battery refers to the pairing of two different types of battery cells, each with a different purpose.
The “Traction” portion has cells that use a lithium iron-phosphate (LFP) cathode, known to have a lower energy density than chemistries based on cobalt, nickel, manganese, or aluminum. LFP batteries are rare in North America, but common in Chinese EVs. Their use of cheap and easily available iron in the cathode leads battery analysts to suggest LFP cells will surge in popularity as their energy density rises, even though it remains below that of advanced cobalt-nickel cells.
The “Long Range” portion of ONE’s Gemini battery, on the other hand, uses a higher energy-density chemistry based on a proprietary material rich in manganese, with only minimal cobalt and nickel. During the current R&D phase, ONE founder and CEO Mujeeb Ijaz told Car and Driver, the company is still experimenting with blends of the three metals to enhance performance. Unusually, it has only a bare copper current collector—rather than separate anode material—a design known in academic circles as “anode-free.”
The LFP “Traction” cells will provide close to 99 percent of the vehicle’s overall miles, Ijaz said, while the “Long Range” cells kick in for the 1 percent of usage that requires extreme power, reducing stress on and deterioration of the LFP cells.
ONE says it can thus provide a battery with energy density that’s claimed to be double that of those in today’s EVs, while focusing on “safer” and “sustainable” battery chemistries created via a “conflict-free supply chain” that includes appropriately sourced and inexpensive manganese.
Lab Tests, Meet Real World
Hundreds of battery chemistries show at least some promise in lab tests, but far fewer make it into production—or even extended testing. The Gemini-powered BMW iX prototype will hit the road by the end of this year. It will be used as a demonstrator first, to prove the Gemini battery concept can store and deliver energy.
After that, BMW and ONE will work together on further testing. As Ijaz notes, ONE needs to “work with BMW to understand their requirements” for his company to become a long-term supplier. That’s an arduous path, but one every battery startup needs to travel before its products find a market.
The ONE-powered BMW iX will mark a new milestone for the company: Powering an actual vehicle, rather than simply showing bench-test results. The actual cells that will go into this early prototype pack will be fabricated by one or more of four separate supplier partners, both in Asia and North America, that are working with ONE on prototyping and production scale-up of its new cells.
When the iX is shown to run, charge, and cover the promised distances, ONE will have moved a large step away from its press stunt last December. In that effort, which ONE called a proof of concept, it stuffed cells with twice the energy capacity as a standard Tesla Model S into that car’s pack and ran it for more than 750 miles—or twice the usual range.
But those weren’t Gemini cells, whereas the BMW iX coming by the end of the year is expected to use very early and experimental versions of ONE’s new cells. This will count as definite progress, presuming it happens on schedule. Stay tuned.
A new report claims a brilliant new feature could be coming to the iPhone 14 Pro, powered by the software that’s about to be revealed.
Apple’s next big iPhone software release, iOS 16, will be unveiled at Apple’s upcoming special event, the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The keynote will be a pre-recorded event but with an in-person contingent: streamed to a small group of developers in Cupertino and simultaneously to the rest of the world. It could include Apple’s biggest new product category reveal in almost eight years.
Even if that doesn’t happen, for sure there will be the first looks at Apple’s software platforms: iOS for iPhone, iPadOS for iPad, macOS for Apple Macs, tvOS for Apple TV and watchOS for Apple Watch.
Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in his latest Power On newsletter, has news about what iOS 16 contains. While most of the innovations are software-only, at least one indicates something that may be locked to the iPhone 14 series, or parts of it, alone.
Always-on screen
This is a feature the iPhone has never had, though plenty of Android phones have. Still, Apple’s mantra seems to be “Don’t do it first, do it right”.
The best always-on screens show the time, what notifications await, if there’s an alarm set and so on. You can configure them to show exactly what you want including, in the case of the excellent Huawei screens, a cute animation. It means you can glance down at the iPhone and see the time, even without touching it. All without killing the battery.
Gurman claims that this new feature, assuming it makes the cut, will be reserved for Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, that is, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max, if that’s what the other two phones are called, won’t have it.
It’s a feature that’s been in the planning for a long time because according to Gurman it’s: “something Apple was originally planning for last year’s iPhone 13. This would allow the iPhone to turn down the frame rate significantly on the lock screen and display quickly glanceable information—similar to newer Apple Watches.” If it happens, it’s a big deal.
Also in iOS 16
Gurman also claims that there will be an extensive series of changes across the OS, including, “updates to notifications, iPad multitasking, and the Messages and Health apps. The makeover also includes a part of the interface that’s often an afterthought: the lock screen.”
He rightly points out that the most used lock-screen feature is likely the flashlight button—if your usage is anything like mine, that is.
New “wallpapers that have widget-like capabilities” are predicted. There are no more details from Gurman about this, but it sounds exciting and suggests a more innovative and more useful lock screen.
The next iPhone software is predicted to see an improved Messages app with “more social network-like functionality, particularly around audio messages.”
Messages already has a bunch of cool features like the ability to add confetti or balloons to texts and the fact that the advanced stuff is only available between Apple users adds to the exclusivity and helps stop a wholesale move to the multi-platform WhatsApp, perhaps.
New features are expected for the Health app on the iPhone, and while Gurman says there will be “plenty” of them. There are no more details yet.More details as we have them, but not long until it’s all revealed.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro is set to be the phone that could shake up the iPhone range by potentially bringing in a notably different design from the iPhone 13 Pro. So far the rumors have hinted at everything from the death of the notch to the return of Touch ID.
This is probably well overdue; as good as the iPhone 13 Pro is, it’s arguably not a definitive upgrade over its predecessor. And overall, the iPhone hasn’t taken a huge leap forward since the iPhone 11 Pro.
Naturally, Apple is extremely tight-lipped about any information concerning its next iPhones, especially when it comes to release dates and price. But going by previous launches, we’d say it’s a safe bet to expect the iPhone 14 range to debut in September. The most recent leak has the iPhone 14 launch tipped for September 13, supposedly based on insider information. That date seems to track with other rumors and Apple’s general cadence of iPhone launches.
This relatively significant leap in launch price would certainly sting the wallet of anyone hoping to score a high-end next-gen iPhone 14. Another leaker, Shadow_Leak, has posted on Twitter that he also expects the regular iPhone 14 Pro to cost $1,099 (opens in new tab). Do also check out our early look at the iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Pro — get ready for the biggest differences in years.
Tesla and the other automakers selling electric cars in the U.S. are about to get some competition from an unexpected place. The VinFast VF 9 will be on sale in California later this year. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Vietnam-based VinFast will begin exporting a lineup of all-electric SUVs to California later this year, but its American market plans are even more ambitious.
VinFast was founded in 2017 by Vietnam’s first-ever billionaire, entrepreneur Pham Nhat Vuong, whose fortune began with an instant noodle company he launched while living in Ukraine in the 1990s. The automaker started out making internal combustion engine vehicles but has since shifted to EVs.
Workers assemble an electric car at the VinFast electric automobile plant in Haiphong April 7, 2022. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“We see the demand and request for EVs booming everywhere in the world,” Emmanuel Bret, VinFast’s deputy CEO of global sales and marketing told FOX Business in an exclusive interview.
Bret said the company will have 30 stores up and running by the end of the year in California and then expand nationwide as it builds the brand.
Part of its plan includes a $2 billion factory it has entered a memorandum of understanding to build at the Chatham County Triangle Innovation Point outside Raleigh, North Carolina, that will be funded with the help of an initial public offering it has filed for.
Bret explained that the company’s belief is that it’s better to be close to the customer and that the project proves how serious it is.
“We are in the U.S. for a long, long, long time, so we want to really show this,” Bret said. VinFast won’t be selling cars the old-fashioned way, however. The initial strategy is to sell and lease vehicles without battery packs, which will be leased separately.
“This is the only way to go for the future,” Bret said.
The idea is that it will create an entirely circular system that will allow it to fully recycle the materials into new batteries, which it hopes will reduce manufacturing and ownership costs.
“We will offer premium quality for everyone at a reasonable price compared to the size and quality of the car,” Bret added.
The first models that will be offered are the VF 8 and VF 9 SUVs, which will have starting prices of $40,700 and $55,500, respectively. The two-row and three-row vehicles were designed by Italy’s famed Pininfarina and engineered with the help of a number of major automotive industry suppliers, including Germany’s ZF.
The two-row VF 8 compact will also be on sale in California this year. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Pricing for the battery lease is set at $35-$44 monthly with 310 miles driving allowed and $110-$160 monthly for an unlimited plan, but charging is not included beyond two complimentary fill-ups on the Electrify America network.
If the battery pack degrades to under 70% capacity or has any issues it will be replaced for free and recycled. VinFast said it may consider selling cars with batteries included in the future, but that it will focus on the subscription model for at least five years.
VinFast says prices for its VF8 SUV start at 41 thousand dollars in the U.S., versus about 63 thousand dollars for a Tesla SUV. A source familiar with the matter said VinFast would probably look to raise about $2 billion U.S. dollars from a listing. However the company said the size and price range of an IPO had not been determined.
VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy spoke to reporters on Thursday: “We still, we still have so many options to look at. So it’s not definite that we are going to do (an) IPO still considering a lot of options, so is one of the options.”
She said the IPO was planned for the second half of this year as one option to fund a plant planned in North Carolina and U.S. expansion. The company plans to transition to all-electric vehicle production in late 2022. Outside North America, VinFast is looking for a plant in Germany, it said in January.
Tesla and the other automakers selling electric cars in the U.S. are about to get some competition from an unexpected place. The VinFast VF 9 will be on sale in California later this year. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Vietnam-based VinFast will begin exporting a lineup of all-electric SUVs to California later this year, but its American market plans are even more ambitious.
VinFast was founded in 2017 by Vietnam’s first-ever billionaire, entrepreneur Pham Nhat Vuong, whose fortune began with an instant noodle company he launched while living in Ukraine in the 1990s. The automaker started out making internal combustion engine vehicles but has since shifted to EVs.
Workers assemble an electric car at the VinFast electric automobile plant in Haiphong April 7, 2022. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“We see the demand and request for EVs booming everywhere in the world,” Emmanuel Bret, VinFast’s deputy CEO of global sales and marketing told FOX Business in an exclusive interview.
Bret said the company will have 30 stores up and running by the end of the year in California and then expand nationwide as it builds the brand.
Part of its plan includes a $2 billion factory it has entered a memorandum of understanding to build at the Chatham County Triangle Innovation Point outside Raleigh, North Carolina, that will be funded with the help of an initial public offering it has filed for.
Bret explained that the company’s belief is that it’s better to be close to the customer and that the project proves how serious it is.
“We are in the U.S. for a long, long, long time, so we want to really show this,” Bret said. VinFast won’t be selling cars the old-fashioned way, however. The initial strategy is to sell and lease vehicles without battery packs, which will be leased separately.
“This is the only way to go for the future,” Bret said.
The idea is that it will create an entirely circular system that will allow it to fully recycle the materials into new batteries, which it hopes will reduce manufacturing and ownership costs.
“We will offer premium quality for everyone at a reasonable price compared to the size and quality of the car,” Bret added.
The first models that will be offered are the VF 8 and VF 9 SUVs, which will have starting prices of $40,700 and $55,500, respectively. The two-row and three-row vehicles were designed by Italy’s famed Pininfarina and engineered with the help of a number of major automotive industry suppliers, including Germany’s ZF.
The two-row VF 8 compact will also be on sale in California this year. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Pricing for the battery lease is set at $35-$44 monthly with 310 miles driving allowed and $110-$160 monthly for an unlimited plan, but charging is not included beyond two complimentary fill-ups on the Electrify America network.
If the battery pack degrades to under 70% capacity or has any issues it will be replaced for free and recycled. VinFast said it may consider selling cars with batteries included in the future, but that it will focus on the subscription model for at least five years.
VinFast says prices for its VF8 SUV start at 41 thousand dollars in the U.S., versus about 63 thousand dollars for a Tesla SUV. A source familiar with the matter said VinFast would probably look to raise about $2 billion U.S. dollars from a listing. However the company said the size and price range of an IPO had not been determined.
VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy spoke to reporters on Thursday: “We still, we still have so many options to look at. So it’s not definite that we are going to do (an) IPO still considering a lot of options, so is one of the options.”
She said the IPO was planned for the second half of this year as one option to fund a plant planned in North Carolina and U.S. expansion. The company plans to transition to all-electric vehicle production in late 2022. Outside North America, VinFast is looking for a plant in Germany, it said in January.
