Lesson 11: A Niche Created from Decentralized Power Generation – Rob Fulton

I think one of the greatest advantages of decentralizing power generation, is that it will improve efficiency of power generation. By reducing centralized power generation, overproduction of energy will reduce. To explain, transmission losses can be avoided by having sources of power located more closely to end users. It is generally understood that between 5% and 10% of grid losses are due to transmission losses, because of the long distance between generation sites and consumers (WADE, 2014).

Businesses both providing and supporting distributed power have the greatest potential for benefiting from increased decentralization of power generation (Owens, 2014). The outlook for Solar PV is especially bright. There seems to be a niche opening for institutions, businesses, and even residential property owners for installing solar arrays on their roofs and properties to not only reduce their energy cost over the long run, but also to produce revenue from selling power to the grid. Such ventures are even better with governmental incentives still making them economically feasible.

With the ever-increasing number of Solar PV companies launching in my home state (California), consumers need a source of information that will provide data such as approval ratings, cost comparisons, customer feedback, etc. on the list of companies serving their locations. Providing such as service would fill that void and with good marketing and advertising I believe the service would be desired and purchased. It could be as simple as paying a fee to enable access to information via the web, with more premium access, at a higher fee, which could include phone or office visit consultation services.

 

Works Cited:

Owens, B. 2014. “The Rise of Distributed Power.” THE RISE OF DISTRIBUTED POWER. http://www.eenews.net/assets/2014/02/25/document_gw_02.pdf.

WADE. 2014. “How Does DE Work?.” WADE : World Alliance for Decentralized Energy. World Alliance for Decentralized Energy. http://www.localpower.org/deb_how.html.

2 thoughts on “Lesson 11: A Niche Created from Decentralized Power Generation – Rob Fulton

  1. Oh, wow, the idea of being an information provider is a great one! I missed that when I wrote my post. Well thought out on your part! Simplifying, condensing, and sharing information could be an excellent business. It could even just be a monetized website.

  2. I think the transmission losses are a great point, Rob. By localizing forms of generation we can make improvements in overall efficiency, while reaping all the other benefits. I also like the idea of becoming a informational source for others would be very beneficial for consumers, industry insiders, and other journalism outfits. Maybe it would simply entail creating a website, but this could gather advertisers, which could pay well enough to support the endeavor.

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