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I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. The power goes out every couple of days. These products are a lifesaver in places where the electric grid is unreliable.

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. The power goes out every couple of days. These products are a lifesaver in places where the electric grid is unreliable. Most Puerto Ricans rely on generators and battery backup devices to power their day-to-day life. 1) At the price point, lower-income countries with unreliable grids are not the target audience. If not that, then who? Off-grid wealthy individuals? 2) This app-controlled system MUST work offline. In wide-scale power outages, diesel generators in cell towers die out or get looted fairly quickly. Cable coax repeaters for home internet stop working almost immediately. This latter scenario must be first in mind. Telecommunications will be gone in give or take 5 days after a large disaster or outage. As for positive notes: loving the industrial design and battery mesh idea.

coleashman 2y ago
I'd love to see the price continue to come down, so more and more folks can get these products. Compared to the expensive install of a large battery systems, I'd call it a step in the right direction but I agree we need to make these even more accessible. Features like energy management and demand response can improve the economics in some markets, but low upfront cost is the ultimate goal. Most of my family in Louisiana are similarly not considering smarter backup systems seriously because of the cost and either "do nothing" in outages, rely on neighbors' generators, or have unreliable pull-start generators in their garage. Yes, yes, and yes on offline performance! We're on it!
chadconway 2y ago
Would financing help?
- sergiomattei 2y ago
  The problem with financing is that it externalizes the cost of the monopolistic utility company onto the disadvantaged. Debt is already the method of choice for acquiring a generator, battery backup or solar panel installation in Puerto Rico. Debt is a burden they shouldn’t have to take on for their day to day utilities. This is a livability problem—it isn’t a luxury.

coleashman 2y ago

I'd love to see the price continue to come down, so more and more folks can get these products. Compared to the expensive install of a large battery systems, I'd call it a step in the right direction but I agree we need to make these even more accessible. Features like energy management and demand response can improve the economics in some markets, but low upfront cost is the ultimate goal. Most of my family in Louisiana are similarly not considering smarter backup systems seriously because of the cost and either "do nothing" in outages, rely on neighbors' generators, or have unreliable pull-start generators in their garage. Yes, yes, and yes on offline performance! We're on it!

chadconway 2y ago

Would financing help?

sergiomattei 2y ago
The problem with financing is that it externalizes the cost of the monopolistic utility company onto the disadvantaged. Debt is already the method of choice for acquiring a generator, battery backup or solar panel installation in Puerto Rico. Debt is a burden they shouldn’t have to take on for their day to day utilities. This is a livability problem—it isn’t a luxury.