January 10, 2012

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Growing Energy Labs, a 23-month-old San Francisco start-up, plans to have experimental versions of its flagship product, the Energy Computer, up and running in Europe and Asia by May 1, founder and CEO Ryan Wartena told us in an exclusive interview yesterday.  “We've taken on a pretty large task, developing both hardware and software, but we've made some great progress,” said Wartena, who holds a PhD in chemical engineering.  “I absolutely see this as being as widespread as washing machines.  There are about a dozen manufacturers in Asia, Europe and the US gearing up to build this type of system for the home.”

          The energy computer from Growing Energy Labs, which calls itself GELI (“jelly”) for short, is a box roughly two feet tall, two feet wide and one foot deep.  It houses a combined inverter and charger, a GELI-developed lithium-ion battery, a central processing unit, network connectivity, databases and software that GELI calls the “energy operator system.”  Most of the computing is done locally and most data is retained on the computer, rather than using “the cloud,” the buzzword for remotely located computing and data-storage servers accessed via the internet.

Power storage, use addressed

          The computer is designed to store and manage power, whether it is generated locally or remotely.  For example, it lets homeowners integrate their own PV power with grid-provided electricity, in the most economical way.  It can function as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and allows selling excess power back to the grid. 

          “Right off the bat you have UPS functionality and you have DR, but no one previously knew how to bring all the pieces together,” Wartena said.

          The battery technology has roots in some work Wartena did for A123 founder Yet-Ming Chiang when both were at MIT.  Wartena also helped prepare exchangeable-battery firm Better Place for its launch.

          The computer's “energy operator system” software was designed mainly to assess the value of energy on the grid, in residential PV and especially in the computer's battery, Wartena said. 

QUOTABLE:  [Designing the software] required
a very deep understanding of utility rate structures
and the ability to change as frequently as those
structures do.  The big question is, what's the value
of energy storage on the grid?

CEO Ryan Wartena

          The computers, which run under Linux or Windows, can be networked to form a microgrid.  And many of these functions can be performed from a smart phone, Wartena said.

A 2-4 KWH version of the Energy Computer now costs about $10,000, and a 20-40 KWH version is also available.  To date, GELI has sold two of the smaller model and none of the larger.  Both of the smaller models were sold to marketing firms that required power at events they were promoting, Wartena said.  But expressions of interest have come from a community housing authority, a telecom firm that installs power systems and a data center that needs to cut peak demand, he said.

          Wartena declined to share sales targets.  The computer's price will decline, just as the price of PCs has, he predicted.

Germany, Japan among targets

          The computer may find its strongest markets in areas with dynamic pricing, which allows users to arbitrage their power prices, Wartena said.  Germany, Israel, Japan and Spain are likely prospects, he said.

          In the US, flat rates prevail, but the computer might still be useful to individuals with home PV, he said. 

“People who buy solar systems think they'll work when the grid goes down, but most do not” without some form of local energy storage -- which the computer provides, Wartena said.  And the spread of dynamic pricing in the US following widespread AMI deployments may open that market further, he said.

          Asked again about the proposed ubiquity of the computer, Wartena said its technology -- not the computer itself -- may be embedded within air conditioners, refrigerators and TVs, so that each device has networked energy storage.  “If every home, business and facility had its own networked energy storage and a little PV energy, you could end up with a very robust energy network,” he said.

                 Firm unlike Fat Spaniel

GELI is one of the seemingly few firms not hyping the virtues of the “cloud.”  It keeps computing and data mainly local, though users can choose how much of either they want to do remotely.  “If the grid goes down, you want to be able to operate your little micro-utility at your home or business,” Wartena said.  “You don't want it all based in the cloud.”

          Furthermore, he said, “energy information is valuable -- so we want the individual consumer to hold it and take ultimate responsibility for it.  That means storing it locally.”

          That perspective distinguishes GELI from, for example, Fat Spaniel Technologies, whose assets have been bought by Power-One, Wartena said.  That firm provides monitoring and reporting services for the renewable-energy industry.  “A lot of these cloud-based systems' business model is to charge dollars for energy information.  Whoever holds the energy information writes the bills and the checks.”

Firm is self-funded

GELI is self-funded “in the tens of thousands” of dollars and has no venture backing, though “we're heavily involved in the Silicon Valley venture conversation,” Wartena said.  The company employs six full-time workers and two contractors.  It has no patents pending or issued, though it has developed “a substantial amount of intellectual property,” he said.

          Early attempts to win funding through competitions have been disappointing.  GELI missed the chance to win $200,000 in the 2011 Cleantech Open, according to an October account in the Richmond (Calif) Confidential.  It was not selected for LAUNCH, an effort by NASA, Nike and others to identify innovative technology.  And it was passed over by the third round of GE's Ecomagination competition.

          Still, Wartena is charged about the firm's future. GELI will not only build energy computers but will also license its “energy operator system” software to other builders, he said. 

“A number” of inverter makers and battery manufacturers have approached GELI for help in integrating inverters, batteries and software, and “we welcome all to come to us for help with getting all that to work together,” Wartena said.