Connect with us

Published

4 years ago

on

Workers lift a solar panel onto a roof during a residential solar installation in Scripps Ranch, San Diego, California, U.S. October 14, 2016. Picture taken October 14, 2016.
Mike Blake | Reuters

Extreme weather events across the U.S. — from wildfires and drought in the West, to deep freezes and floods in the South and Southeast — have disrupted the electric grid this year. As a result, homeowners are buying solar and energy storage systems at rates never before seen, according to data from solar website SolarReviews.com.

As California faces devastating wildfires and record drought, the website saw a 358% year-over-year jump in solar estimate quotes requested by California residents between June 30 and Aug. 6.

The state has also faced numerous power outages over the past year. PG&E has cut the power on several occasions when dry conditions and high winds increase the risk of sparking a fire. The state has also had trouble on the power supply side, and the California Independent System Operator has issued flex alerts, calling on customers to cut usage when demand is expected to peak. In some cases, rolling blackouts have taken place when power availability comes up short.

A similar phenomenon played out earlier this summer in Oregon, when Portland hit an all-time high of 116 degrees. SolarReviews said that between June 25 and June 30 the website saw a 919% increase in solar estimate requests from the state compared to the same period in 2020.

It’s not only happening in the West. The deep-freeze that hit Texas and the South in February, leading to multi-day power cuts for millions of customers and more than 150 deaths, fueled interest in on-site energy systems. SolarReviews said it saw an 850% jump in quote requests between Feb. 13 and Feb. 17 in Texas.

“These folks that experience environmental difficulty gain a whole different perspective on what solar and batteries are,” SolarReviews founder and President Andy Sendy said.

More from CNBC Climate:
Bill Gates is among the backers of stealthy battery company Form Energy, but it has a lot to prove
These electric submarines map the seafloor to make way for wind power
Feds will ration water from Colorado River amid historic drought

Launched in 2012, SolarReviews has had more than 25 million unique visitors across its platform of websites that offer information on solar power, as well as highly localized quotes. The website has an option for visitors to request a quote, and SolarReviews makes money by then selling that data to companies that operate in the consumer’s location.

Growing sophistication

Sendy said customers’ questions about solar have become increasingly sophisticated. At first, queries included things like “do solar panels work?” Now, people will ask questions about the type of solar system they should get if they also want to hook up electric vehicles.

Sendy attributes much of this shift to word-of-mouth: Many people know someone who’s gotten solar panels, so their efficacy is now accepted.

But the potential saving on electricity bills has consistently remained the predominant driving force.

“[Customers] make the decision based on the economic benefits,” he said. “The bottom line is it makes money. So whether your motivation is environmental or financial you sort of come to the same decision.”

Sendy has also noticed another shift. At first, customers were interested in systems with the fastest payback. But in the past few years, more people are looking for systems that offer maximum power reliability.

In order for a solar system to operate normally when the central grid goes down, there also needs to be on-site battery storage at each house or building. Rooftop panels won’t function by themselves if service is cut, since to protect utility workers repairing wires, power can’t be flowing back into the grid.

A recent survey from SolarReviews found that battery storage installations have been growing since 2016, with nearly three-quarters of installations over the last five years taking place in 2020.

Installers with a national footprint such as Sunrun, Sunnova and SunPower offer storage options, using products from Enphase Energy and SolarEdge, among others. Goldman Sachs predicts the market for home energy storage will hit $1 billion for the first time in 2022.

A separate survey from SunPower showed similar trends, with a third of homeowners considering changing to solar citing power outages as a driving force. Nearly two-thirds of homeowners with energy storage said outages were a reason for their purchase.

“Against the backdrop of high-profile power outages, the next wave of solar owners view battery storage as a vital component of their solar energy system,” the study said.

Sophisticated software systems also allow customers to use their batteries even while the grid is running as normal. In states where there’s time-of-use pricing, for example, the battery can be charged when electricity prices are low, and it can then power the home when prices are high. Additionally, in some states net metering — where solar energy owners are credited for power they add to the grid — can make having a solar system with storage a particularly attractive option.

While the companies in the solar space that grab headlines are typically those with a national footprint, Sendy said he believes the best solar companies are the small, local ones, given the needed urgency when there are power problems.

“I believe solar is inherently a localized service business. I don’t believe in corporate solar,” he said. “They really haven’t gotten good at the after-sales service.”

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Environment

Tesla is bleeding AI talent to a small new robotics start-up

Published

2 hours ago

on

November 24, 2025

By

Tesla is bleeding AI talent to a small new robotics start-up


Tesla’s AI and robotics divisions are facing a significant “brain drain” as a stealth startup called Sunday Robotics emerges with a roster of engineers from Tesla’s Optimus and Autopilot teams.

We are used to seeing Tesla executives leave, especially to other AI giants, as the competition ramps up and large compensation packages are being thrown around left and right.

However, this feels different. Sunday Robotics isn’t a Fortune 500 company poaching Tesla engineers with big packages. It is a tiny startup that just came out of stealth with a funding round that would be a rounding error in Tesla’s financials.

Sunday Robotics officially emerged from stealth today, announcing $35 million in funding led by Benchmark and Conviction.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

The startup, founded by Stanford roboticists Tony Zhao and Cheng Chi (Zhao previously interned at Tesla Autopilot), has recruited an impressive bunch of senior Tesla engineering leadership.  

The list of departures includes:

  • Nishant Desai: an almost 5-year veteran at Tesla’s machine learning team working on Autopilot and FSD.
  • Nadeesha Amarasinghe: The former Engineering Lead for AI Infrastructure at Tesla. He was responsible for the massive backend systems that train FSD and Optimus. He was at Tesla for moer than 7 years.
  • Perry Jia: A key engineer on the Optimus and Autopilot programs. He spent almost 6 years at Tesla and led the data engine programs. Now, he leads Data Operations at Sunday.

This isn’t just random attrition. Sunday Robotics has effectively poached a “full stack” of robotic and AI engineers from Tesla.

They also recruited other employees from Tesla, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more join, as Jason Peterson, a talent recruiter for Tesla’s Optimus and Robotaxi programs, confirmed that he also left Tesla in September to join Sunday.

What is Sunday Robotics?

So, what are these engineers leaving Tesla to build?

Sunday Robotics is taking a different path than Tesla’s general-purpose humanoid. Their debut robot, Memo, is a wheeled domestic robot designed for household chores such as cleaning dishes and folding laundry.  

By ditching the legs (Optimus is bipedal), Sunday claims they can focus entirely on dexterity and reliability. The robot is trained on a massive dataset of 10 million behavioral episodes, which the company claims gives it a “ChatGPT moment” for physical movement.  

The most interesting technical divergence from Tesla is how Sunday collects data.

Tesla relies heavily on VR teleoperation suits to train Optimus. Operators wear motion-capture suits and mimic tasks in a lab. It’s high-fidelity, but it’s slow and expensive. Tesla now claims to also train just on video.

Sunday Robotics has a different approach this with a $200 ‘Skill Capture Glove’. They distributed these gloves to hundreds of ordinary people (“Memory Developers”) who recorded themselves doing chores in their own messy homes.  

This allowed Sunday to crowdsource 10 million episodes of real-world data, messy kitchens, weird lighting, and cats jumping on counters at a fraction of the cost of Tesla’s teleoperation labs.

The gloves also reflect Memo’s much less complicated hands, which can make them more reliable and cheaper.

Electrek’s Take

Elon Musk is telling anyone willing to listen that Tesla is ahead of the competition when it comes to “real-world AI” and robotics.

He claims that Tesla will start producing Optimus robots in the millions of units starting next year and it will eventually “end poverty.”

Not many people who are serious about robotics take these claims seriously.

Many other companies are developing humanoid robots, and Tesla shows no evidence of being ahead of the pack, while there are still many obstacles to make them useful at scale.

A company like Sunday has a less ambitious but more realistic approach that could pay off, and it is convincing some Tesla engineers to jump ship.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Arkansas turns on its first-ever utility-scale wind farm

Published

2 hours ago

on

November 24, 2025

By

Arkansas turns on its first-ever utility-scale wind farm

Crossover Wind Arkansas first wind farm

Photo: Cordelio Power

Cordelio Power’s 135 MW Crossover Wind farm is officially up and running in Cross County, Arkansas, west of Memphis, Tennessee. It is now officially the first operating wind farm in Arkansas.

“We are proud to announce that Crossover Wind is now generating electricity as the first utility-scale wind project in the state of Arkansas,” said Nick Karambelas, Cordelio Power’s chief development officer.

The project will deliver 100% of its power to Microsoft under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Independent power producer Cordelio says Crossover will pay about $950,000 a year to Cross County and more than $50 million to local landowners over the project’s lifetime without disrupting farming practices.

“We’re especially thankful for the strong collaboration from Cross County officials, landowners, and the broader community, which has been instrumental in bringing this project to life,” Karambelas added.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

M.A. Mortenson handled the construction, and Vestas supplied 32 US-made V-163 4.5 MW turbines. Vestas will also handle long-term operations and maintenance.

Cordelio acquired the project in late 2023 from Steelhead Americas, Vestas’ North American development arm, which started development in 2020.

Read more: Solar and wind are covering all new power demand in 2025

If you’re looking to replace your old HVAC equipment, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you’re finding a trusted, reliable HVAC installer near you that offers competitive pricing on heat pumps, check out EnergySage. EnergySage is a free service that makes it easy for you to get a heat pump. They have pre-vetted heat pump installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions. Plus, it’s free to use!

Your personalized heat pump quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. – *ad


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 power station hits new $679 low + PowerCore Reserve at $80, Mammotion RTK robot mowers from $649, more

Published

4 hours ago

on

November 24, 2025

By

Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 power station hits new 9 low + PowerCore Reserve at , Mammotion RTK robot mowers from 9, more


We’re kicking off this week’s Green Deals with a continued Black Friday extravaganza – with this issue containing a mix of single-focus deals and massive roundups. Our headliner comes as part of Anker’s SOLIX Black Friday Sale, with the brand launching a 4-day flash sale on a small selection of power stations, including the latest SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station at a new $679 low. Right behind that, we have a nice array of Mammotion RTK Robot Lawn Mowers at some of their lowest prices at Amazon and Wellbots starting from $649, as well as Anker’s popular PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh/192Wh Portable Power Station at $80. There’s also EV charging lows from Schumacher, a massive Greenworks Black Friday roundup, Best Buy’s collection of daily deals, and much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals from last week that are collected together at the bottom of the page in our latest edition of Electrified Weekly.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Anker’s 4-day SOLIX Black Friday flash sale drops latest C2000 gen 2 power station to new $679 low ($820 off)

As part of its expanded Black Friday Sale, Anker SOLIX is offering 4-day flash savings on four different bundles, three of which are keeping the same low prices while switching up the FREE gear you’ll be getting with them, while one is actually dropping costs lower than before. That latter deal mentioned is on Anker’s new SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station for $679.15 shipped, which also matches in price at Amazon. It’s been carrying a $1,499 price tag since launching at the end of October, with the discounts we’ve seen in its short time on the market having dropped costs to $799 and $749, until the brand’s Black Friday event first brought things lower to $699. Now, you can score it at an even better price, with $820 cut from the tag for a new all-time low rate. Head below for more on this unit and the others benefiting from this flash sale.

Not only does Anker’s SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 power station come as an upgrade from the legacy F2000 unit, but right now it’s even beating out that older model’s price by $120, making this deal all the better. This new model comes more compact and lighter than before with a starting 2,048Wh LiFePO4 battery capacity that can expand up to 4,096Wh with an expansion battery (which you can find bundled on the station’s landing page). There are 11 ports to choose from for your needs (5x AC, 3x USB-C, and solo TT-30R, USB-A, and car ports), with it providing 2,400W to 4,000W of max output when surging.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

There are six main ways to recharge its own battery, with an AC outlet or a gas generator putting it at 100% in 88 minutes, while utilizing its max 800W solar input gets you there in up to three hours. You can also use both AC and solar charging at the same time to hit 100% in up to 58 minutes, or if you’re driving, either use your car’s auxiliary port for up to 23 hours or the new 800W alternator charger for faster speeds.

Anker’s SOLIX Black Friday 4-Day flash sale offers:

As I mentioned, there’s the massive lineup of Anker SOLIX Black Friday deals that you can view here, with increased savings up to 70% off, free gifts, and more starting from $150.

father and daughter planting tree in yard while Mammotion YUKA Mini 500H robot lawn mower cuts grass

Upgrade your lawn care with up to 35% Black Friday savings on Mammotion RTK robot mowers from $649

During Amazon’s Black Friday Sale event, the official Mammotion storefront is offering up to 35% savings across various models of its robot lawn mowers, with prices starting lowest on the YUKA Mini 500H Robotic Lawn Mower at $649 shipped. You’d have to shell out $999 for this model at full price, which discounts have previously dropped to this same low rate twice before, while others kept costs higher at $779 or more. Picking one up here not only automates your lawn care routine, but you’ll be doing so with $350 cut from the tag at the lowest price we have tracked. Head below for all the other Mammotion robot models we’re seeing discounted for the holidays.

If you want to learn more about this model or browse the full lineup of offers we’ve collected from Amazon and Wellbots, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

anker powercore reserve power station on picnic table charging laptop and iPhone

As part of the ongoing Amazon Black Friday Sale, Anker’s official storefront is offering its popular PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Portable Power Station back at $79.98 shipped in both colorways, which matches the price we’re seeing directly from the brand’s website. Fetching $150 at full price and regularly seeing Prime exclusive discounts to $110, it’s during major events like Black Friday (as well as random windows throughout other months) that we often see it dip below $100 to either $90 or $80, with there having been a once-off drop to the $75 low back in July that hasn’t been seen since. You’re getting the opportunity to score it at the next-best price this holiday season, cutting $70 off the going rate and giving you quite the portable means to keep personal devices up and running.

If you want to learn more about this compact backup power solution, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

Schumacher level 1 ev charger in trunk of car
Promotional image of Greenworks tools in large garage/warehouse
Best Buy Black Friday deals of the day featuring an e-scooter, lawn mower, more

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Trending