Advances in fuel cell technologies are critical in supporting the integrated grid systems, with their peak-load management and mitigation capabilities, and without which integrating renewables into the energy mix will be a much more expensive and painful affair than often supposed.
"Residential air-conditioning is the peak load problem, and we're able to tackle the load-shifting in a very automated way, " says Matt Rogers, Nest's engineering VP.
Since John is still doing his laundry during peak load hours, the utility is paying top dollar in infrastructure costs and high-cost backup power plants.