The basic idea behind Dyson's Utopia is this. If we decentralize energy production then the whole world works more efficiently because we take transportation and maintenance of transportation of energy out of the equation. Further, you decentralize society and disempower big cities by allowing humans to live at a more personal scale. Plus you have an even further energy efficiency because people won't commute. Given that peer networks span all that and you keep all the knowledge, the endgame is really sweet.
SunPower has announced that their residential solar power system for an average home cost about 20k. It's guaranteed for 25 years so it can be amortized into your standard mortgage package. At the current electricity rate, the system pays for itself and becomes net cash positive after 10 years. It's actually good looking and doesn't take up your whole roof making you look like some crackpot treehugger. I think it's a good deal. This looks like one of the first conditions for Dyson's Utopia. Could there be solar in your future? I think so.
As you can see, the CEOs appearance on CNBC this morning is very likely the cause for the jump in the stock price. Notwithstanding, my thinking on this is that we are already into 'Solar 2.0' and the construction industry is getting more and more used to it.
The cumulative effect of having more houses have solar generation is that it reduces peak demand for electricity. Folks in the power business understand that electricity demand is generally something we are able to plan for years in advance, and it hasn't generally been a problem handling that. (I built some systems for 3 different energy companies over the years. I know they do commodities hedging up to 20 years in advance). What's difficult is managing freaky weather and peak demand. When this happens, utilities bring small plants, called 'peakers' online. The trick is timing. All power generation plants have to go down for periodic maintenance. What you don't want is to get stuck with peak demand when your peakers are down. When that happens you have to buy power from out of state or out of the region. Hopefully you've had an agreement that allows you to do so, but if you don't and have to buy energy on the spot market, then you lose a huge amount of money - because electricty prices are regulated. You can't sell peak power at too much of a premium over regular power. This gap is essentially what broke PG&E and Edison seven years ago in California.
The solar edge of Dyson's Utopia is pretty much here.
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