Daedalus was the mythical engineer and artificer of the classical world. What would he do with digital tools and digital concerns?

NERC and Utilities Commissions are unintentionally hindering Distributed Energy Adoption

February 01, 2015 in Distributed Energy, Solar, Unintended Consequences

For significant use of distributed energy to arrive, it must be managed and used locally first, the variability and storage managed locally, and only then traded with others. This mode of operations is termed a microgrid. Legacy business models that assume irresponsible end nodes require direct control of energy distributed in residences. Commercial sites are treated as bulk generators subject to NERC regulations that require months of filings for each configuration change. It is time for a new regulatory and operational model.

The microgrid model lends itself recursion....

Solar Consultants are a Big Barrier to Smart Energy

April 08, 2014 in Re-thinking things, Smart Energy, Unintended Consequences

Smart energy names the techniques and technologies needed to manage energy flows and energy supply and demand when energy generation and energy storage are as distributed as energy consumption is today. During the early years of distributed energy, distributed energy resources were so small as to be losable in the noise of the grid. Installations were treated by utilities as if they were just another utility installation. This design approach has become the single largest barrier to distributed energy. So when are we going to get smart about distributed energy?...

New Daedalus

Daedalus designed buildings, automated statues, and built wings for human flight. Daedalus worked by eye and hand, his designs scratched with a stylus on wax tablets. Until recently, we merely perfected his means of work, using better pens, and paper, and finally drawing on computers.

It is only recently that we have begun to leave the methods of Daedalus behind.

Simulations and digital twins guide each decision. Intelligence, or at least behaviors, imbue each system and device. Cyberphysical systems replace household servants and chauffeurs, operate factories, and manage energy logistics. The most pressing concerns are how intelligent systems and buildings will respond to us, and to each other.