Sign in
US energy company NRG Energy is upgrading smart home tech to include solar panels, storage batteries and more to boost energy efficiency and slash power costs, Bloomberg writes. Power management systems, embedded in devices like storage batteries and thermostats, will also allow homeowners to sell excess power back to the grid.
The benefits are huge: Virtual power plants, which connect small-scale resources like home batteries, could add up to 162GW of energy capacity by 2030, a cited 2023 analysis by the US Department of Energy showed last year.
Who’s in: The technology’s potential and its capacity to grow has grabbed the interest of big players including Siemens, Amazon, Alphabet, and LG. Solar and battery companies like Sunrun, Enphase Energy, SolarEdge Technologies, and Tesla are also adding similar tech software to their products.
