Energy Efficiency Markets Podcast

With Obama's recent visit to India, and the country's big focus on boosting solar development, what are the opportunities for clean energy developers--including those involved in energy efficiency and microgrids? Anjali Jaiswal, director of NRDC's India Initiative, discusses the opportunities and barriers in India and explains why India is a great market for clean energy in general.

What are states that support energy efficiency doing that other states are not? And the states that don’t support energy efficiency–what are they doing wrong and why? Jeff Haydock, president and CEO of EcoCFO, a consulting firm, gives his point of view. He also explains what needs to be done to boost efficiency in general.

Utilities could be doing more with smart meter data in ways that help consumers cut their electricity use. In this podcast, Nat Treadway, Managing Partner, Distributed Energy Financial Group (DEFG), explains the problem and says that utilities could offer consumers daily energy use summaries, plus incentives for reducing their energy consumption.

A company made up of young entrepreneurs has sold more than 3 million solar-powered lamps and mobile phone chargers for off-grid users using unusual distribution strategies. Listen to the podcast with Jonas Ketterle, Imagineer at Greenlight Planet to learn how they did it.

How do you “credential” energy efficiency projects for investors and what are the benefits? Matt Golden, director of the Investor Confidence Project for the Environmental Defense Fund, answers these questions in this podcast, Part 2 of our interview with him about building investor confidence in energy efficiency.

The Investor Confidence Project provides energy efficiency standards that serve as the "logo in the lobby," building investor confidence in much the same way the LEED program standards and certification build confidence in projects, says Matt Golden, director of the Environmental Defense Fund's Investor Confidence Project in this podcast, which is Part One of Two Parts.

Demand is growing for service technicians who can repair solar modules, electric vehicle chargers, and other products in green industries. Rue Phillips, CEO of True South Renewables, describes a training program for these jobs, whose workers bring in $50,000 - $75,000 a year.

The future of energy is distributed energy, says Bill Watkins, CEO of Imergy Power. Solar, energy storage and microgrids will put power in consumers' control--where it should be, he says. Companies like Walmart should build microgrids and offer power to neighbors, he says in this podcast.

BC Hydro expects that in the near future, it will experience problems meeting the demand from consumers to charge their electric vehicles during peak hours. In a new project, the company has partnered with Greenlots to create standards that will allow for smart grid innovation and solutions to challenges like BC Hydro’s.

Interest in community solar is growing, but one of the main challenges is the red tape associated with getting projects up and running. Tom Hunt, director of research and government relations, Clean Energy Collective, talks about a new DOE-supported web platform that will help overcome this obstacle.

Which states are rolling back their energy efficiency programs? Which states are boosting them–and why? In this podcast, Jordan Doria, Manager of Stakeholder Engagement, Ingersoll Rand’s Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability, gives predictions for efficiency in 2015.

There’s a booming market for off-grid energy that takes advantage of solar in urban areas, says Alex MeVay, president and CTO of Blue Sky Energy. Solar street lighting and solar parking meters are two examples. His company offers technology that improves by 10 to 30 percent the output of solar systems that use battery storage.

In a study of Opower’s new behavioral demand response program, the company found some surprising and exciting results. The program costs less than traditional demand response programs, and yields more–up to 5% peak reduction. Learn the three keys to unlocking DR’s full potential. Download the OPower white paper: http://clk.ml-links.com/clk?pub=634&pgr=1166&src=12993&ctg=667&tstamp=20141028T235917&ast=42350&cmp=13753&crv=0&pos=0&frm=1927&imp=6071841131331717263&yld=0

What’s a microgrid for a home? It’s a system that combines solar and energy storage in a home, and automatically determines when it’s best to use solar, battery storage, or other power sources. Bill Southworth, CEO of Elecyr, describes this system and the possible impact of California’s efforts to require net-zero homes by 2020.

Why is the CHP microgrid market ripe for growth? In this podcast, Chris Lyons, manager of power generation, Solar Turbines, names the factors that are driving growth in the market, including storms like Superstorm Sandy, gas prices, and regulatory issues.