Description of need
According to Francis O’Sullivan, in some regions the advent of “smart grid” capabilities is limited by data and connectivity. For example, in the US midwest, many electricity cooperatives don’t have smart meters deployed, and they also don’t have a good way to transmit relevant data (e.g. solar PV output) across the entire grid network.
Problem severity (1-10)
4
Who has this need
- Utilities and electricity cooperatives that operate in an area with limited data & intelligence “backbone”
Total addressable market (TAM)
$500M?
Solutions today, and their shortcomings
A lot of manual or semi-automated operation.
Potentially relevant capabilities
- Fiber optics. The US gov is offering 75% capital grants to roll out fiber in the middle of the US.
- Technologies that can help accelerate the deployment of fiber optics.