Hardware Podcasts

Managing Energy At The Edge: Navigating The Modern Grid With Itron

Over the Air · 5 Sept 2024 · 31m

What this episode covers

Nick Tumilowicz, Director of Product Management at Itron, discusses the challenges of managing the aging electrical grid amid the energy transition, focusing on transformer capacity limits and the shift to underground infrastructure. He explains how Itron leverages its installed base of smart meters as edge compute devices to enable real-time, autonomous load management for distributed energy resources like EVs and solar. The conversation covers the long sales cycles in the utility sector, the cultural differences in grid adoption between the US and Europe, and the importance of balancing technological innovation with customer incentives.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Itron, GE Vernova, Schneider Electric, Paridio, Very

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • IoT For All Podcast · 18m

    Preparing the Energy Grid for EVs with IoT | Itron's Nick Tumilowicz | Internet of Things Podcast

    Nick Tumilowicz, Director of Product Management at Itron, explains how IoT software and smart meters can manage the grid's capacity for electric vehicle (EV) charging. He details the risks of transformer overloads and the need for real-time data to optimize charging schedules without waiting for multi-year infrastructure upgrades. The discussion highlights the challenges of EV heterogeneity, proprietary protocols, and the business conflict between utilities and vehicle OEMs over customer ownership.

    Energy & climate techConnected products & IoT
    8 chapters

  • Catalyst · 1h 00m

    What the grid can learn from the internet

    Astrid Atkinson, founder and CEO of Camus Energy and former senior Google engineer, explains how the electricity grid can adopt the distributed computing architectures of the internet to manage the explosion of distributed energy resources (DERs). She details the critical gap in utility data visibility, noting that while Silicon Valley handles billions of data points daily, utilities often lack real-time visibility into customer-side assets like solar panels and EVs. Atkinson highlights the role of FERC Order 2222 in enabling DER aggregation and praises electric co-ops like Holy Cross Energy and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative for their agility in decarbonization compared to large investor-owned utilities.

    Connected products & IoTPolicy, trade & tariffs
    8 chapters

  • EE Times Current · 37m

    Solving a Renewables Problem with Electric Vehicles

    Ritesh Tyagi, head of product innovation and growth strategy at Infineon, explains that while power generation is sufficient, the electrical grid's 100-year-old infrastructure struggles with transmission and managing peak demand from renewables and EVs. He argues that Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology allows the massive battery capacity of EVs to act as distributed storage, stabilizing the grid. Tyagi emphasizes that modernizing the grid requires next-generation semiconductors like silicon carbide and gallium nitride, along with increased sensor integration and AI for intelligent load management.

    Energy & climate techWireless & RF
    7 chapters

  • Moore's Lobby · 56m

    Aligning Passion With Purpose: A Journey to Electrification and Sustainability

    Dr. Mital Kanabar, Senior Director of Innovation at GE Vernova, discusses the 'energy trilemma' of security, affordability, and sustainability as power demand surges from EVs and AI data centers. He explains how GE Vernova's GridBeats platform uses software-defined automation and edge AI to manage bidirectional power flow and grid stability without massive hardware upgrades. The conversation covers the role of small modular reactors (SMRs), cybersecurity in operational technology, and the workforce challenges facing the utility industry.

    Energy & climate techAI & machine learning
    10 chapters

  • Moore's Lobby · 58m

    Energizing the Future: Real-Time Precision in Renewable Energy Management

    Henrik Mannesson, General Manager of Grid Infrastructure and Power Delivery at Texas Instruments, discusses the evolution of smart grids, emphasizing the shift from simple metering to real-time energy management. He details how semiconductors like wide band gap devices (GaN) and precision current sensing are enabling higher efficiency in solar, EV charging, and grid stabilization. Mannesson explains the technical requirements for bi-directional power flow, dynamic pricing, and the increasing role of edge processing and AI in balancing generation and consumption.

    Energy & climate techAnalog & power electronics
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Over the Air. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.