Dan Kirwin
@dankirwin.bsky.social
Flexibility @ Octopus Energy
Nerd for all things distributed energy solutions, VPPs, renewables, and the energy transition.
Also an avid follower of domestic and global politics, European football, and Formula 1.
Nerd for all things distributed energy solutions, VPPs, renewables, and the energy transition.
Also an avid follower of domestic and global politics, European football, and Formula 1.
Downloaded Grok to my Tesla and now I can’t stop it from taking hard right turns
July 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Downloaded Grok to my Tesla and now I can’t stop it from taking hard right turns
New Pope is from the Midwest so I think his official title is actually the Ope
May 8, 2025 at 6:23 PM
New Pope is from the Midwest so I think his official title is actually the Ope
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
Much ado about the role of renewable energy (RE) in the Spanish blackout. The investigation into the effective cause is still ongoing, but many pointed to the fact that RE has no ‘inertia’. Is that true? The answer is: yes, but ... 🧵
May 1, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Much ado about the role of renewable energy (RE) in the Spanish blackout. The investigation into the effective cause is still ongoing, but many pointed to the fact that RE has no ‘inertia’. Is that true? The answer is: yes, but ... 🧵
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
Spain is going to experience a rarer event than a blackout: a black start. All grids operate at a set frequency (Spain: 50Hz) and that's achieved by spinning turbines in gas, coal, nuclear or hydro power plants. Getting to that stable frequency takes time. More: www.nationalgrid.com/sites/defaul...
April 28, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Spain is going to experience a rarer event than a blackout: a black start. All grids operate at a set frequency (Spain: 50Hz) and that's achieved by spinning turbines in gas, coal, nuclear or hydro power plants. Getting to that stable frequency takes time. More: www.nationalgrid.com/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
New: If you're thinking about putting solar panels on your roof, here's how to navigate the chaos of Trump tariffs, declining state subsidies and the collapse of big national solar companies. With @mchediak.bsky.social. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Want Solar Panels on Your Roof? How to Navigate Market and Tariff Chaos
With several big solar companies in turmoil and tariffs that can change daily, choosing the right installer is crucial. Here’s what you need to know.
www.bloomberg.com
April 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
New: If you're thinking about putting solar panels on your roof, here's how to navigate the chaos of Trump tariffs, declining state subsidies and the collapse of big national solar companies. With @mchediak.bsky.social. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Thoroughly convinced that I'm good back-crack away from self-actualization
April 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Thoroughly convinced that I'm good back-crack away from self-actualization
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
This is the fuel mix in ERCOT (Texas) for the past week (top) vs same week 4 years ago (bottom). Solar generation is in yellow. Solar barely registered in 2021; today it accounts for roughly 50% of generation during the day in the shoulder months.
data via @gridstatus.io
data via @gridstatus.io
April 13, 2025 at 1:29 PM
This is the fuel mix in ERCOT (Texas) for the past week (top) vs same week 4 years ago (bottom). Solar generation is in yellow. Solar barely registered in 2021; today it accounts for roughly 50% of generation during the day in the shoulder months.
data via @gridstatus.io
data via @gridstatus.io
My favorite thing about IAH is that they couldn’t figure out how to get bags to baggage claim faster so they just built the gates to be as far away as possible, making it take longer to walk to baggage claim and thus feel like you’re waiting for less time.
March 26, 2025 at 9:59 PM
My favorite thing about IAH is that they couldn’t figure out how to get bags to baggage claim faster so they just built the gates to be as far away as possible, making it take longer to walk to baggage claim and thus feel like you’re waiting for less time.
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
For the past few months, I’ve been working on a story that was set to reveal this week one of the biggest bottlenecks to our clean, electrified future. Then on Thursday night, it blew up.
Not my story, but the very thing—transformers—I was reporting on. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Not my story, but the very thing—transformers—I was reporting on. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Heathrow Shutdown Shows How Electrified World Depends on One Device
A shortage of transformers is causing delays to power projects everywhere, holding trillion-dollar industries hostage—and that was before tariffs.
www.bloomberg.com
March 25, 2025 at 9:06 AM
For the past few months, I’ve been working on a story that was set to reveal this week one of the biggest bottlenecks to our clean, electrified future. Then on Thursday night, it blew up.
Not my story, but the very thing—transformers—I was reporting on. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Not my story, but the very thing—transformers—I was reporting on. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Texans — the State Senate voted to make your power more expensive and less reliable by passing SB 388.
Call your State Rep and ask them to vote No!
www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
Call your State Rep and ask them to vote No!
www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
Texas Senate passes bill to upend energy market, spur gas over…
The legislation would require half of new power plant capacity come from dispatchable sources other than batteries. Solar and wind developers would pay…
www.canarymedia.com
March 24, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Texans — the State Senate voted to make your power more expensive and less reliable by passing SB 388.
Call your State Rep and ask them to vote No!
www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
Call your State Rep and ask them to vote No!
www.canarymedia.com/articles/ene...
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
A report from @aceeedc.bsky.social on how to design electricity rates such that switching from a gas boiler to a heat pump in a cold climate does *not* raise costs.
Electricity Rates that Keep Bills Down after Electrification of Home H
Jump to download the report
www.aceee.org
March 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
A report from @aceeedc.bsky.social on how to design electricity rates such that switching from a gas boiler to a heat pump in a cold climate does *not* raise costs.
A destructive asteroid hurtling towards the earth with the highest probability of impact ever measured feels a little on the nose, no?
February 19, 2025 at 3:07 AM
A destructive asteroid hurtling towards the earth with the highest probability of impact ever measured feels a little on the nose, no?
Fairly convinced that marriage is just saying “How is the floor dirty already, I just swept yesterday” back and forth until one of you dies
January 22, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Fairly convinced that marriage is just saying “How is the floor dirty already, I just swept yesterday” back and forth until one of you dies
An important distinction lost in the discourse about TikTok is that they’re being forced to SELL, not shut down.
TikTok leadership & investors could make BILLIONS, but would rather go dark than sell.
That should tell you everything you need to know about their motivations.
TikTok leadership & investors could make BILLIONS, but would rather go dark than sell.
That should tell you everything you need to know about their motivations.
January 18, 2025 at 11:54 PM
An important distinction lost in the discourse about TikTok is that they’re being forced to SELL, not shut down.
TikTok leadership & investors could make BILLIONS, but would rather go dark than sell.
That should tell you everything you need to know about their motivations.
TikTok leadership & investors could make BILLIONS, but would rather go dark than sell.
That should tell you everything you need to know about their motivations.
Out of the tragedy in LA, I know we'll hear stories of hope. I also know that we'll hear stories about people who were taken advantage of at their lowest.
I hope this guide can help folks navigate the rebuild process to make it any little bit easier.
ft-fy.com/resources
I hope this guide can help folks navigate the rebuild process to make it any little bit easier.
ft-fy.com/resources
January 12, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Out of the tragedy in LA, I know we'll hear stories of hope. I also know that we'll hear stories about people who were taken advantage of at their lowest.
I hope this guide can help folks navigate the rebuild process to make it any little bit easier.
ft-fy.com/resources
I hope this guide can help folks navigate the rebuild process to make it any little bit easier.
ft-fy.com/resources
With the angst around growing electricity demand from data centers and AI, if this can actually shave a year off of interconnection timelines, that's huge!
www.canarymedia.com/articles/tra...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/tra...
This DOE-backed software is helping to unclog the grid
GridUnity’s software can shave 12 months from the sluggish interconnection process that’s stalling clean power. A $50M DOE grant is helping it expand.
www.canarymedia.com
January 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
With the angst around growing electricity demand from data centers and AI, if this can actually shave a year off of interconnection timelines, that's huge!
www.canarymedia.com/articles/tra...
www.canarymedia.com/articles/tra...
I may be late to the party here but tools like Replit are an absolute game changer for entrepreneurship.
With no software engineering experience, I was able to build a fully functional MVP in 3 weeks!
If you’ve got an idea but don’t have a technical cofounder, the barriers are so much lower!
With no software engineering experience, I was able to build a fully functional MVP in 3 weeks!
If you’ve got an idea but don’t have a technical cofounder, the barriers are so much lower!
December 10, 2024 at 2:43 PM
I may be late to the party here but tools like Replit are an absolute game changer for entrepreneurship.
With no software engineering experience, I was able to build a fully functional MVP in 3 weeks!
If you’ve got an idea but don’t have a technical cofounder, the barriers are so much lower!
With no software engineering experience, I was able to build a fully functional MVP in 3 weeks!
If you’ve got an idea but don’t have a technical cofounder, the barriers are so much lower!
Bluesky algo, do your thing -
I got fed up with Angi and the like selling my contact info, so I’ve built a side project that helps homeowners search and request quotes from contractors of all types automatically.
The project is open for testing at ft-fy.com! Would love testers and feedback!
I got fed up with Angi and the like selling my contact info, so I’ve built a side project that helps homeowners search and request quotes from contractors of all types automatically.
The project is open for testing at ft-fy.com! Would love testers and feedback!
December 9, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Bluesky algo, do your thing -
I got fed up with Angi and the like selling my contact info, so I’ve built a side project that helps homeowners search and request quotes from contractors of all types automatically.
The project is open for testing at ft-fy.com! Would love testers and feedback!
I got fed up with Angi and the like selling my contact info, so I’ve built a side project that helps homeowners search and request quotes from contractors of all types automatically.
The project is open for testing at ft-fy.com! Would love testers and feedback!
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
Hello Bluesky 👋👋👋👋🐙👋👋👋👋
A lot of customers have asked us to swim our way over here, so we're dipping our tentacles in.
Give us a follow, we'll be floating around to chat all things green & geeky, make energy fairer, and own up to van printing disasters:
A lot of customers have asked us to swim our way over here, so we're dipping our tentacles in.
Give us a follow, we'll be floating around to chat all things green & geeky, make energy fairer, and own up to van printing disasters:
December 4, 2024 at 3:23 PM
Hello Bluesky 👋👋👋👋🐙👋👋👋👋
A lot of customers have asked us to swim our way over here, so we're dipping our tentacles in.
Give us a follow, we'll be floating around to chat all things green & geeky, make energy fairer, and own up to van printing disasters:
A lot of customers have asked us to swim our way over here, so we're dipping our tentacles in.
Give us a follow, we'll be floating around to chat all things green & geeky, make energy fairer, and own up to van printing disasters:
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
To be fair she does look like a chicken.
November 23, 2024 at 2:08 PM
To be fair she does look like a chicken.
Dressing up as the scariest thing I can think of this Halloween: a Facebook memory of a status that you posted in 2008
October 31, 2024 at 8:44 PM
Dressing up as the scariest thing I can think of this Halloween: a Facebook memory of a status that you posted in 2008
Super interesting piece on Form Energy and their iron-air batteries. As easy as it is to be pessimistic, there are large pockets of innovation that inspire hope that momentum behind the #EnergyTransition is unstoppable!
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Form Energy’s Utility-Sized Battery Can Run for Four Days
The startup is opening its first factory just as data centers and extreme weather strain the power grid.
www.bloomberg.com
October 22, 2024 at 4:31 PM
Super interesting piece on Form Energy and their iron-air batteries. As easy as it is to be pessimistic, there are large pockets of innovation that inspire hope that momentum behind the #EnergyTransition is unstoppable!
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Being passionate about addressing climate change while being an AI enthusiast is an odd juxtaposition.
The evolution of LLMs (in my mind) will surely shorten enable us to create world-saving tech but the energy required to train/run the models might prevent us from achieving our goals.
The evolution of LLMs (in my mind) will surely shorten enable us to create world-saving tech but the energy required to train/run the models might prevent us from achieving our goals.
October 22, 2024 at 4:13 PM
Being passionate about addressing climate change while being an AI enthusiast is an odd juxtaposition.
The evolution of LLMs (in my mind) will surely shorten enable us to create world-saving tech but the energy required to train/run the models might prevent us from achieving our goals.
The evolution of LLMs (in my mind) will surely shorten enable us to create world-saving tech but the energy required to train/run the models might prevent us from achieving our goals.
Reposted by Dan Kirwin
With all the downbeat climate news it's important to remember the bright spots, and the most striking example continues to be just how far we have come on renewable energy. 🔌💡
Installed capital costs: way down
Capacity factors: rising or holding steady
Overall levelised costs: waaayyyyy down
Installed capital costs: way down
Capacity factors: rising or holding steady
Overall levelised costs: waaayyyyy down
October 21, 2024 at 7:22 PM
With all the downbeat climate news it's important to remember the bright spots, and the most striking example continues to be just how far we have come on renewable energy. 🔌💡
Installed capital costs: way down
Capacity factors: rising or holding steady
Overall levelised costs: waaayyyyy down
Installed capital costs: way down
Capacity factors: rising or holding steady
Overall levelised costs: waaayyyyy down