The Clean Energy Marketplace:
Opportunities and Challenges
May 29, 2019 | 6-8 PM
Venture Development Center
100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125
Register now!
Innovations are always at the heart of disruptive businesses. Since the time of Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla the electricity grid has not changed much. High-tension wires crossing state lines transmit electrical energy from large gas-fired power plants which have supplied electricity to Americans for over 200 years.
It is time now to innovate our conventional grids by creating a marketplace for renewable energy sources. Solar, wind, geo-thermal, ocean thermal, fuel cell, hydrogen and even tidal energy can be brought into the fold for a new economy of distributed power systems. Let the thousand points of light shine through the creation of an app-based, blockchain-enabled clean energy marketplace.
There are numerous vital questions we need to ask to move forward with the innovation in the electrical power industry, such as:
- Will existing grid operators allow distributed power systems and give up their monopoly?
- Can renewable energy compete with price of the kilowatts offered by the current electricity suppliers?
- Can we trade clean energy kilowatts in an online marketplace?
- Can we create a reliable power supply from the disparate renewable energy sources?
Dr. Nish Sonwalkar has conducted extensive research and development in the area of solar microgrids, blockchain platforms, software defined network controllers, IoT and big-data analytics. Joined by leading experts in renewable energy markets, he will explain the P2PConnect platform as reference architecture for constructing a next-gen clean energy marketplace. Stay tuned for the announcement of panelists!
Brief Biography of the Moderator
Dr. Nish Sonwalkar (ScD., MIT), Founder, President and CEO, Power2Peer
An inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Nish Sonwalkar has over 25 years of experience in the development of innovative technologies. With Power2Peer he is developing a clean energy marketplace for peer-to-peer transaction. Over the course of his career Dr. Sonwalkar has specialized in renewable energy technologies related to solar thermal applications, open cycle ocean thermal energy conversion (OC-OTEC) evaporators, and the molecular dynamics of energy materials and nano-interfaces, such as Si and copper interfaces and optical coatings. As the former Principal Research Scientist and faculty at MIT, he developed the combined molecular dynamics (MD) and laser Raman spectroscopy methodology for the design of new material interfaces. His most recent invention is a method for increasing the efficiency of solar panels by over 20%.
