Energy
T&D World: The Energy Switch—A Residential Microgrid
By Scott Hinson, CTO, Pecan Street - The Energy Switch is designed to turn an unreliable generation resource that requires close attention by a utility into a much more beneficial load on the system.
Fully Charged Show Visits Pecan Street
The Pecan Street staff hosted Chelsea Sexton from Fully Charged a few weeks ago as they toured some of Austin’s energy-tech hotspots. Watch the Pecan Street episode here.
Greentech Media: A Texas-Sized Gas-for-Electricity Swap
Converting Texas homes to electric heat would reduce climate-warming pollution, save Texas households up to $452 annually on their utility bills, and flip the state from a summer-peaking to a winter-peaking system.
IEEE Spectrum: A Plug-and-Play Microgrid for Rooftop Solar
By Scott Hinson, CTO, Pecan Street - Pecan Street designed and built a residential energy-storage system that turns a home into its own microgrid. It’s a solution that addresses all of solar’s integration issues at once.
Pecan Street @ 10: Tackling Energy Justice Through Representative Research Datasets
By Suzanne Russo, CEO, Pecan Street – In some ways, our volunteers are a varied bunch. But there are few things that connect most of our participants and, in fact, most “early adopter” market segments. They’re mostly homeowners. They’re mostly mid- to upper-income. They already know a good deal about energy, their energy bill, and the cost of renewable energy options. In other words, they’re not the “average energy customer.”
Pecan Street @ 10: The Mother of All Energy and Water Databases
By Grant Fisher, chief information officer, Pecan Street – Our greatest technical accomplishment is the development of the largest database of real-world energy and water use on the planet. But we didn’t set out to create the mother of all energy and water databases. Honest.
Utility Dive: ERCOT weathers steamy August, but could Texas become a winter-peaking system?
Shifting from gas to electricity for winter heating "would result in increased winter electricity demand peaks," the report found. "When combined with the reduction in summer peak demand, the increase in winter peak demand would flip Texas from a 'summer peaking' to a 'winter peaking' system."
E&E News: Blackouts are on the rise. So Austin is making a ‘microgrid’
Scott Hinson is the chief technology officer for Pecan Street Inc., a nonprofit research organization that focuses on ways to spread solar power to reduce the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation. Pecan Street is located in the Mueller neighborhood and has organized some volunteer homeowners to participate in the blackout experiment. It might expose them to infrequent losses of power.
Pecan Street Whitepaper Examines Emission and Grid Impact of All-Electric Residential Heating in Texas
A study commissioned by Pecan Street Inc. examining the possibility of converting single-family residential heating in the ERCOT service area from natural gas to electric power concluded that the state could achieve significant reductions in climate and local air pollution and save Texans money through lower monthly utility bills.
E&E News Visits Pecan Street on their Electric Road Trip
Pecan Street hosted Edward Klump and Mike Lee from E&E News as they started their 1,000 mile journey from Houston to Nashville in an EV. Along the way, they're stopping to write and share news about what's happening in this fast-growing market. Review their Week One video recap and read their blog post that dives into our vehicle to grid research.