Will Gathright

With so much talk about the “move to renewables,” why has adding more solar and wind to our electrical grid proven so fiendishly difficult?  Politics aside, there are technical reasons that link clean energy sources to traditional generation.  The intermittent and uneven nature of solar and wind generation are a poor fit to the operational reality of instantly available, all-you-can-use electricity.  Even a world powered largely on renewable sources would require dependable and stable generation to pick up the slack.

We will also discuss how to help break this link with energy storage.  Energy storage devices are large, stationary batteries.  This emerging technology can help make the grid more efficient and dependable, even as we move toward a world with more renewable energy.

A real-world example of this technology is coming soon to Alexandria.  Virginia Tech is installing a 5 kW, 12 kWh pilot battery storage installation in one of their offices.  We’ll look at how the confluence of storage technology and smart controls can help manage the energy usage in any commercial building.

Biography:

Will Gathright, PhD is the founder and CEO of Tumalow. Previously, Will founded the New Clermont Project: a nonprofit organization that designed, built, and sailed a fuel cell boat 160 miles up the Hudson River. He’s authored several energy market research reports and peer-reviewed scientific publications. Will earned his BS in Materials Science from Northwestern, and a MS in Management and PhD in Materials Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). While at RPI, Will was a National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow and a winner of the Founder's Award - the university's most prestigious award for students

Will Gathright

Biography: