![]() ![]() A smart circuit setup can monitor charging levels while also providing load control. ![]() While it’s true that battery companies offer monitoring through their own apps, they don’t give the user any control. With Span, they have greater control over their home energy, especially when they need it most.” We developed the Span smart panel to give homeowners greater energy independence in the face of these growing challenges. “Last fall, power outages affected millions in California, and shutoffs are starting again as utilities perform precautionary maintenance in fire-risk areas. “Self-sufficiency and control within the home are top of mind for many homeowners with power outage concerns now compounded by coronavirus shelter-in-place orders,” said Span founder and CEO Arch Rao in a press release. The panel is currently available in California and Hawaii, with new markets coming soon. Span, which is led by executives and engineers previously with Tesla, Amazon and Sunrun, has established relationships with LG Chem and Panasonic, with the battery companies offering Span as a packaged deal. When power goes out, the Span Smart Panel isolates the house and allows the customer to control important loads via a smartphone app. Launched in select markets in 2019, Span provides smart customization for 32 circuits. Instead of juggling the upkeep of two boxes, Span makes all circuits smart at their source. ![]() Unlike Lumin, the Span Smart Panel replaces the traditional circuit breaker panel to become the primary energy and control hub for a home. “Our approach allows us to meet the market demand for smart and responsive load control without that large upfront cost.”Īnother product in the nascent smart circuit market is Span’s electrical panel. “Replacing an existing breaker panel with an entirely new one is very costly in terms of time and labor before you even add on the cost of the product itself,” he said. Instead of replacing the home’s breaker panel with a brand new configuration, Lumin is a simple add-on that works with any battery brand and electrical panel, said company co-founder and CCO Kevin O’Shea. Lumin launched in 2016 as a way to advance the adoption of green energy by improving the technology of tried-and-true breaker panels. “I think the future of PV and energy storage will involve a lot more innovations in smart energy management to provide better transparency to energy behavior trends and home energy use,” he said. Rather than just monitoring the battery, Lumin can actually manage use. Brawner described Lumin as a “game changer” for homeowners to better connect the monitoring experience with real-time usage behavior. SunPower by esaSolar has installed Lumin on about one-quarter of its battery projects and expects that number to climb as the storage market continues to grow. Through an app, system owners can manage their energy usage and protect their batteries from prematurely running out of juice. A physical box installed next to a home’s electrical panel, Lumin allows for whole-home backup (on varying schedules) by making all circuits smart. That ability to choose or automate which circuits to support with energy storage is a major selling point of the hardware/software combo of Lumin. Instead of only backing up a few loads through a protected loads panel, smart circuits and energy management software allow for load toggling - someone can stop supporting the air conditioner for a little while to instead turn on some lights.Ī Lumin system with a Tesla Powerwall on a ReVision Energy installed project New generation electrical panels and smart circuits can change that conversation. We use a ‘final configuration’ document when we complete our engineering package that our customers sign that clearly states which circuits we are backing up to ensure there are no surprises on the day of installation.” “It takes some real conversations about how much you can power with one battery. “Energy storage is not a commodity that can just be quickly added as a line item and forgotten about,” he said. Many customers are interested in storage for hurricane-induced grid outages, and they believe one Tesla Powerwall will provide power for the whole home. Morgan Brawner, VP of business development at SunPower by esaSolar, said this conversation is often challenging for the Central Florida installer. This tends to be the biggest education hurdle for installation companies - explaining that the lithium batteries on the market can’t actually provide whole-home backup. The bedroom lights may not get that emergency power, but at least the refrigerator and air conditioner are still running. When a homeowner hooks up a battery, typically only a few circuits are rewired for energy backup. With the advancements of the Internet of Things and whole-home automation, it is surprising that easy management of energy storage systems isn’t included in the equation. ![]()
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