EGEB: 100 homes in Vermont to get free Gen 2 Span Smart Panel in pilot program

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Vermont’s Green Mountain Power is the first US utility to offer the Span Smart Panel in a pilot program.
• Chicago-based Energize Ventures leads its first investment in the battery sector.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Span Smart Panel in Vermont pilot

Vermont utility Green Mountain Power (GMP) has launched a pilot program that will provide 100 customers with a newly launched second-generation Span Smart Panel. GMP will choose the customers to create a customer representative sample.

GMP, along with local solar and battery companies, will install the Span at no cost so that the utility can test electrical load management and metering capabilities. The panel will be integrated with distributed resources like batteries, EV chargers, and solar panels. 

GMP is the first utility in the US to offer the Span Smart Panel. GMP president and CEO Mari McClure said:

Imagine there’s an outage at your home while you’re away. This device alerts you and you can immediately and easily access your electrical panel through an app on your phone to prioritize how to deploy the energy in your Tesla Powerwall or other backup battery. This type of technology is the future, and we’re excited to be the first to share it with our customers.

These are the second-gen Span Smart Panel improvements:

• The new Smart Panel is 46% lighter and 35% smaller. It works indoors and outdoors, on-grid or off-grid. 
• It works with battery storage systems such as Tesla Powerwall and the LG Energy Solution. 
• It now supports 90 amps in each circuit. (For those of you who aren’t energy nerds, this is an achievement in thermal design that allows you to connect just about anything – a hot tub, an EV charger, a new AC, heat pumps – to the Span Smart Panel without overloading the breakers or panel.) 
• It provides greater circuit level visibility and granular control.

Further, Span’s new app (see the video below) is coming this summer. Span is discontinuing the first-generation Smart Panels.

VC money for the battery sector

Chicago-based Energize Ventures leads its first investment in the battery sector with a $26 million investment round into Munich-based analytics software company TWAICE.

Energize Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on the digital transformation of energy and heavy industrial markets, has raised $26 million in Series B funding for TWAICE, which uses predictive analytics to increase the lifetime, efficiency, and sustainability of batteries. This round brings TWAICE’s total financing to $45 million.

TWAICE will use the funds to expand core capabilities such as the analytics platform and fuel international expansion to target electric vehicle and energy companies. 

TWAICE customers include automotive giants Audi, Daimler, and Hero Motors as well as Verbund, Austria’s largest electricity provider.

TWAICE Co-CEO Stephan Rohr said:

With the rapid acceleration toward electrification globally, we are now keen to grow in key markets. North America is the logical next step to become a true global player. Energize is the ideal partner with its impressive portfolio of energy and mobility companies and strong footprint in the United States.

Photo: Span