GridPoint's Instant-On Backup for Renewable Power
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 09.26.05
Plug and play power management/battery bundles are coming to the renewable power field. Renewable energy systems force owners of existing buildings into a fundamental choice. Either configure the entire home or business to be grid idependent, or dabble in it, the latter course requiring you decide in advance which appliances will get backup power when the grid is down, re-do the building circuits accordingly, and, finally, hire a professional installer to custom rig critical circuits to a solar panel array,batteries, conditioner, and so on. So many choices. What to do first?
The more sophisticated the always-on appliances are, the more risky the proposition of getting through the "switch over" undamaged and net synched. Fast and reliable become top criteria for the choice. With the back and forth of price estimating several configuration scenarios, finding the materials, and locating experienced contractors, anything that simplifies is welcome. That's the context for GridPoint's new intelligent energy management (IEM) product called "Connect". From the press release: "Made especially for renewable energy customers, GridPoint Connect is a grid-tied battery backup product that integrates and converts energy from solar panels into electricity that can be used immediately by the customer or stored within the product for future use. The product can also determine the amount of energy used from solar panels versus the utility company as well as peak usage throughout the day. In addition to providing backup power during outages, GridPoint Connect also enables users to sell excess energy back to the utility".
We love the simplicity and scaleability aspect of this design, because it empowers a DIY confidence for the person with a limited cash flow and big dreams. "First we'll do the furnace and home office; then later, when money allows, we move on to the kitchen and familiy room, etc"
great! it was only a matter of time... but it sure took a while. i especially like the internet-based monitoring which would help for seasonal/weekend homes. as i'm building, this seems like the ideal setup to grow with my needs from the initial power tools for construction to eventual home power. it depends entirely on price, though. have you heard anything on that?
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I believe one of the press releases said that they intend to sell to the trade and to retail outlets. If you have a tax ID, or even if you do business on your own without being incorporated, you might still get consideration as a wholesale customer or tradesperson. In that case the price you pay might be negotiable, depending on volume. My guess is they expect to charge a premium to the trades because it will save the contractor time, and hence money. The site says they maintain warrantee responsibility too.
Sounds nifty. One enhancement I can think of is to somehow define favored circuit status with this thing. That is, in the event of a power outage, this thing only has 7 Kwhrs. One needs to keep the fridge/AC/fan/gramma's life support powered. There should be someway to define those needs as favored over say the TV and the lights. Replacing conventional powerplugs with ones with a priority indicator would be good; data networks running over power systems exists so it should be a relatively easy extra step to take; as opposed to getting a dedicated geneartion system for just those things.
Since learning about GridPoint from an issue of The Economist some weeks age, I've been trying to get more information from that company about its products, but with no success. (I've also tried to get such information from Home Depot, which the Economist article said was carrying GridPoint products, but no one at the Oakland store had heard of them.) Can anyone advise me as to how to get information about the GridPoint products, whether from the company or elsewhere? Thanks.