4 ms·

On the other hand, the change in price from moment to moment is an arbitrage opportunity for anyone with a grid connected battery. As battery prices keep going

On the other hand, the change in price from moment to moment is an arbitrage opportunity for anyone with a grid connected battery. As battery prices keep going down, more existing generators will be motivated to invest in them, which will gradually create an efficient time shifting of energy, which will gradually erode the existing price volatility.

wickawic 9y ago
I think that is a strictly good thing though; it is a flywheel solution (almost literally!) because the more people buy in and work with that model, the more successful it becomes. In a sense you gamify the electrical grid to train people to be more responsible consumers. If at the end of it we are paying the same price but the grid is more stable, I'm ok with that!
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  I heard a talk just today on this by Dr Dan McGillivray (Exec. Director of the Centre for Urban Energy @ Ryerson University, Toronto) at AI Toronto [0] who mentioned two projects, utilizing a mix of central power generation, decentralized power generation (via solar panels, etc), and the blockchain for transactions: * the currently running Brooklyn Microgrid [1] * and Toronto Hydro is apparently currently assessing a similar one (the blockchain isn't mentioned in this summary, but Dr McGillivray mentioned its usage in his talk today) [2][3] There is still so much to be worked out, I could hardly digest all of the details he spoke about. It does sound promising, though! [0] http://www.ai-toronto.com/ http://www.ai-toronto.com/ [1] http://brooklynmicrogrid.com/ http://brooklynmicrogrid.com/ [2] https://www.sdtc.ca/en/portfolio/projects/transactive-energy-network-clean-generation-energy-storage-electric-vehicle https://www.sdtc.ca/en/portfolio/projects/transactive-energy... [3] http://awsassets.wwf.ca/downloads/wwf_dg_report_long_bookmarks_1.pdf http://awsassets.wwf.ca/downloads/wwf_dg_report_long_bookmar...

wickawic 9y ago

I think that is a strictly good thing though; it is a flywheel solution (almost literally!) because the more people buy in and work with that model, the more successful it becomes. In a sense you gamify the electrical grid to train people to be more responsible consumers. If at the end of it we are paying the same price but the grid is more stable, I'm ok with that!

52-6F-62 9y ago
I heard a talk just today on this by Dr Dan McGillivray (Exec. Director of the Centre for Urban Energy @ Ryerson University, Toronto) at AI Toronto [0] who mentioned two projects, utilizing a mix of central power generation, decentralized power generation (via solar panels, etc), and the blockchain for transactions: * the currently running Brooklyn Microgrid [1] * and Toronto Hydro is apparently currently assessing a similar one (the blockchain isn't mentioned in this summary, but Dr McGillivray mentioned its usage in his talk today) [2][3] There is still so much to be worked out, I could hardly digest all of the details he spoke about. It does sound promising, though! [0] http://www.ai-toronto.com/ http://www.ai-toronto.com/ [1] http://brooklynmicrogrid.com/ http://brooklynmicrogrid.com/ [2] https://www.sdtc.ca/en/portfolio/projects/transactive-energy-network-clean-generation-energy-storage-electric-vehicle https://www.sdtc.ca/en/portfolio/projects/transactive-energy... [3] http://awsassets.wwf.ca/downloads/wwf_dg_report_long_bookmarks_1.pdf http://awsassets.wwf.ca/downloads/wwf_dg_report_long_bookmar...