At Solar Design Studio, we embrace projects that others might balk at. The intersection of design, functionality, and energy production is an exciting one, so we leap at the opportunity to take on new challenges. Fortunately for us, we’ve built relationships with clients who bring their innovative, ambitious ideas to us.

The technological advances in solar PV systems over the last decade have been remarkable. Designers and manufacturers continue to create systems that are increasingly more efficient, less expensive, and easier to install. They’re also making them nicer to look at.

Emerging technology always has a wide and somewhat unpredictable impact. Over the last decade, we’ve seen multiple industries reshaped by disruptive new technologies with major consumer support. Consider how the sharing economy has impacted the hospitality industry and the ways mobile apps have altered brick-and-mortar banking. Now, the power industry is facing an equally foundational sea change.

In our ongoing series of articles about grid modernization and distributed energy resources, we’ve explored the pressing need for improved energy infrastructure in the United States that supports consumer choices when it comes to alternative energy sources like solar and wind power. The current grid, mostly unchanged over the course of the last century, has revealed itself to be an unstable, inefficient, and costly solution for meeting consumer’s power needs. The development of alternative energy technologies (and their falling prices) has given consumers more choices, but utility companies have been reluctant to compromise their profits by creating a more open, accessible grid. It’s time for them to catch up.

The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) recently concluded a year-long series of white papers examining state-level efforts to modernize the American utility grid. As we’ve previously explored, the creation of a stable, sustainable electric grid is a vital step towards a future in which consumers have greater choice over the source of their power. The current infrastructure is in need of innovation, as the system in place has more in common with the original electric grids established in the late 1800’s by electricity pioneers Thomas Edison and William Stanley, Jr.

Did you know that the United States has the highest rate of power outages of any developed country in the world? It’s true. Why? Because we continue spending ever greater amounts of money to prop up an energy infrastructure that hasn’t changed much for the past hundred years. The results are limited choices for energy consumers, unreliable service, and a continued negative impact on the environment.