5 ms·

The Internet of energy is real, and it's a generational opportunity. If anyone wants to come and work on it at Enphase [1], please email me. [1] https://enphas

The Internet of energy is real, and it's a generational opportunity. If anyone wants to come and work on it at Enphase [1], please email me. [1] https://enphase.com https://enphase.com

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
djrobstep 6y ago
Tell me more about what you mean exactly by "internet of energy". What is Enphase doing with this that's unique?
- cagenut 6y ago
  enphase is like the linksys of residential solar. no one piece is unique, but they have a product line that both nails the featureset well and is very cost competative. Its hard to tell because industry numbers like this are private and expensive to come by in detail, but Enphase is likely #1 if not #2 in the residential "solar + storage + saas-platform" market. That means their saas platform can then turn around and act as a "virtual power plant" that bids into different markets and services. imagine if linksys had figured out some bitorrent like protocol and managed to not just sell the equipment but also make loot in the CDN market.
  - femto 6y ago
    Enphase's claim to fame is the "microinverter". In most solar systems the direct current from all the panels is combined and sent to one big inverter. With microinverters, there is an inverter per solar panel and the power is combined as alternating current. I gather the advantage is that the operating point of each panel is optimised independently, so you get better performance across an array when light conditions are different across the array (eg. a tree shading part of the array).
    - zbrozek 6y ago
      I was really excited for the IQ8 until I realized it was three years behind schedule with no release in sight. Elected to go Solar Edge instead. I wonder if Enphase just pivoted to something else entirely and never thought to formally announce a cancellation?
- femto 6y ago
  One interpretation of the "Internet of Energy" is that it is the use of data networks to improve the control of energy networks. I think there is another level beyond this though. The revolution in data networks happened when they shifted from circuit-based (telephony) systems to packet based (IP) systems. There were significant benefits to be had in the switching of standardised packets with standardied equipment, allowing us to cheaply build and manage complex networks with a mix of underlying technologies. I can see a revolution coming in the "packetisation" of energy, meaning that we will be able to switch units of energy with the same ease and versatility with which we switch data bits. Any load will be able to consume a standardised "packet" of energy from any source. Data and energy will be mingled, in that each energy packet will be accompanied by a data packet describing its properties. Complex networks will be able to be safely constructed and automatically managed by non-specialists, as the network will use the data portion of a "data/energy" packet to safely and efficiently manage the energy portion of the packet as it passes through the network.
  - cagenut 6y ago
    I've been watching/waiting for something like this to come along. There was a startup years ago whose name I can't remember anymroe that tried doing it with a (relatively) high voltage DC system (I think 240), where the "packets" were very short (ms) bursts of energy, followed by short signaling bursts with very little amperage. Something about the protocol and design of it meant that even though high voltage DC systems like that are typically considered very dangerous, this one you could just grab a live wire, and it would just not send the next pulse because the signaling had been interrupted. The energy within a given pulse was under the safety threshold of things we tolerate now. That and of course the reigning champion so far: USB PD. Wicked hot mess that it is, wouldn't be the first time the kludge wins.
  - eigenvector 6y ago
    Respectfully, as a power systems engineer, I'm unable to grasp how what you're describing is beneficial compared to current power networks or how it respects the underlying physics of electricity. The design of power transmission and distribution networks is driven by several physical realities: high voltage is needed to transmit power over long distances with acceptable losses, it is easier and cheaper to transform voltage and switch ultra high power circuits in an AC network than a DC network, all power conversion is lossy, electricity is hazardous and therefore electrical circuits must be insulated and protected adequately to protect public safety. I've heard this question of "why don't we have some kind of universal power outlet that any load regardless of voltage or current needs can connect to?" before. The answer is the same as in many other fields of engineering: it's not efficient to overbuild every node in an network to handle any possible load when electrical loads are usually well-defined and do not change rapidly. We don't have a universal train that runs in the metro, for freight and for high speed rail not because it's not possible but because that would not be efficient. The same applies here.

The Internet of energy is real, and it's a generational opportunity. If anyone wants to come and work on it at Enphase [1], please email me. [1] https://enphase.com https://enphase.com

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

djrobstep 6y ago

Tell me more about what you mean exactly by "internet of energy". What is Enphase doing with this that's unique?

cagenut 6y ago
enphase is like the linksys of residential solar. no one piece is unique, but they have a product line that both nails the featureset well and is very cost competative. Its hard to tell because industry numbers like this are private and expensive to come by in detail, but Enphase is likely #1 if not #2 in the residential "solar + storage + saas-platform" market. That means their saas platform can then turn around and act as a "virtual power plant" that bids into different markets and services. imagine if linksys had figured out some bitorrent like protocol and managed to not just sell the equipment but also make loot in the CDN market.
- femto 6y ago
  Enphase's claim to fame is the "microinverter". In most solar systems the direct current from all the panels is combined and sent to one big inverter. With microinverters, there is an inverter per solar panel and the power is combined as alternating current. I gather the advantage is that the operating point of each panel is optimised independently, so you get better performance across an array when light conditions are different across the array (eg. a tree shading part of the array).
  - zbrozek 6y ago
    I was really excited for the IQ8 until I realized it was three years behind schedule with no release in sight. Elected to go Solar Edge instead. I wonder if Enphase just pivoted to something else entirely and never thought to formally announce a cancellation?
femto 6y ago
One interpretation of the "Internet of Energy" is that it is the use of data networks to improve the control of energy networks. I think there is another level beyond this though. The revolution in data networks happened when they shifted from circuit-based (telephony) systems to packet based (IP) systems. There were significant benefits to be had in the switching of standardised packets with standardied equipment, allowing us to cheaply build and manage complex networks with a mix of underlying technologies. I can see a revolution coming in the "packetisation" of energy, meaning that we will be able to switch units of energy with the same ease and versatility with which we switch data bits. Any load will be able to consume a standardised "packet" of energy from any source. Data and energy will be mingled, in that each energy packet will be accompanied by a data packet describing its properties. Complex networks will be able to be safely constructed and automatically managed by non-specialists, as the network will use the data portion of a "data/energy" packet to safely and efficiently manage the energy portion of the packet as it passes through the network.
- cagenut 6y ago
  I've been watching/waiting for something like this to come along. There was a startup years ago whose name I can't remember anymroe that tried doing it with a (relatively) high voltage DC system (I think 240), where the "packets" were very short (ms) bursts of energy, followed by short signaling bursts with very little amperage. Something about the protocol and design of it meant that even though high voltage DC systems like that are typically considered very dangerous, this one you could just grab a live wire, and it would just not send the next pulse because the signaling had been interrupted. The energy within a given pulse was under the safety threshold of things we tolerate now. That and of course the reigning champion so far: USB PD. Wicked hot mess that it is, wouldn't be the first time the kludge wins.
- eigenvector 6y ago
  Respectfully, as a power systems engineer, I'm unable to grasp how what you're describing is beneficial compared to current power networks or how it respects the underlying physics of electricity. The design of power transmission and distribution networks is driven by several physical realities: high voltage is needed to transmit power over long distances with acceptable losses, it is easier and cheaper to transform voltage and switch ultra high power circuits in an AC network than a DC network, all power conversion is lossy, electricity is hazardous and therefore electrical circuits must be insulated and protected adequately to protect public safety. I've heard this question of "why don't we have some kind of universal power outlet that any load regardless of voltage or current needs can connect to?" before. The answer is the same as in many other fields of engineering: it's not efficient to overbuild every node in an network to handle any possible load when electrical loads are usually well-defined and do not change rapidly. We don't have a universal train that runs in the metro, for freight and for high speed rail not because it's not possible but because that would not be efficient. The same applies here.