Energy Unplugged: Recent Episodes
Sol-Ark
We live in a world where we don’t often hear the good stories, but we do hear about the great needs in our society. We just don’t know how to jump in and make a difference. But, through giving, we can change outcomes.
Here to give insights on this episode of Energy Unplugged is Bhawna Oberoi, CEO and CFO at Sol-Ark, and Catherine Von Burg, CEO and President at Simpliphi Power, a growing and innovative technology company that designs, builds and sells a portfolio of non-toxic, efficient, energy-dense storage and management systems that seamlessly integrate renewable energy in conjunction with or independent of the grid. They talked with Host Hilary Kennedy about giving back and how charitable endeavors can create real, actionable change for the better.
Sol-Ark and Simpliphi give to charities throughout the year, and they also donate some of their products for relief projects when needed. Leaders from both organizations understand that giving back is an essential part of any successful business.
“Some of this stems from not just my veteran background, but also my medical background,” Oberoi said. “Just naturally caring for people and seeing how many lives you touch. The simplest things you take for granted can be a necessity for people, especially when they are stricken with any type of tragedy.”
Simpliphi started a charitable program called IDEA, where they give one percent of annual revenue to high-impact projects that deliver energy access. Sol-Ark also participates in the program and helps to provide batteries and inverters to areas that desperately need power.
The most valuable resource that any company has is its people. That’s exactly how the leaders at Sol-Ark feel. They invest in their staff and have a strong culture. In the spirit of showcasing their team, their Energy Unplugged podcast, hosted by Hilary Kennedy, placed the spotlight on Brendan King, Production Assistant Manager. Kennedy and King chatted about his story, role and experiences.
On this episode of Energy Unplugged, a Sol-Ark podcast, host Hilary Kennedy talked with Yang Chen, Engineer Support R&D Software Engineer, and William Hopkins, Electrical, Communications Engineer.
One of the most important and expensive parts of solar panels is the battery inverter. Their design can either reduce or multiply costs. Discussing this topic, Sol-Ark Unplugged brings listeners a conversation between Sol-Ark CTO Tom Brennan and installer and inverter expert Scott Hunt, Owner of Practical Preppers.
“The first hurdle to overcome in designing a solution is sizing the battery and inverter right. We actually created a tool for homeowners that can calculate this for you, because most installers aren’t as knowledgeable as Scott,” Brennan shared.
Sol-Ark does empower its installer network with seven-day support. They also provide educational webinars, remote programming and online monitoring. The goal is to help the installer find the best settings.
Brennan noted that the battery is the biggest expense, and Sol-Ark provides ways to help homeowners recoup those costs. “We’re working on a deal that would allow the utility company to ‘lease’ your battery to support the grid for about 60 days, which would pay homeowners around $2,000. We’re also increasing the power of the inverter without increasing the price.”
Hunt also spoke about keeping costs down around inverters. “During install, I prepare systems for future expansions, or I can start out the inverter at half capacity. Every job is custom and specific. It’s a systems approach.”
Hunt explained he’s had very few issues with the Sol-Ark system. In one case, there was a software issue, and he was able to replace the inverter within a day. “It’s actually easy to swap out these inverters. Others aren’t. Even homeowners can do it.”
Sol-Ark, a veteran-owned company, is on a mission to offer affordable energy independence for family homes and business by building solar, hybrid, battery-based system that boosts renewable energy efforts.
That makes Founders Tom Brennan and Bhawna Oberoi uniquely qualified to look back at the recent winter storm that struck Texas, leaving millions without power in its wake and exposing serious inequities and shortcomings in the state’s power grid.
“One of the things that Sol-Ark brings to the market is that, right now, have solar – but they were never told that, when the power goes out, they won’t have any storage,” Oberoi said. “What Sol-Ark makes possible … is to retrofit [existing systems].”
This makes life simpler for both installers and building owners who wish to install the system, themselves – installation is simple, and it allows for those looking for a way to store their energy an easier journey toward greater control over their energy.
Such solutions could help avoid catastrophic failure like that experienced during the recent storm, which impacted many states in addition to Texas.
“Basically, the renewable people were blaming fossil fuel generators, and the fossil fuel generators were blaming the wind and the solar guys,” Brennan said. “Texas’s grid can generate as much as 74 gigawatts of energy, and we get close to that in the summertime and deep wintertime. … During this crisis, where temperatures hit [maybe 80-year extremes], about 93% of wind failed because the wind turbines were frozen up.”
However, about a third of coal-powered plants and another third of natural gas-powered plants went down, as well. In total, only about 45 gigawatts of power were available.
Had energy storage infrastructure been more widespread, that extreme downturn could have been mitigated.