Tesla, Sunrun and Renew Home plan to tap solar panels, batteries, thermostats and other devices installed in millions of homes to meet the energy demands of artificial intelligence.
The artificial intelligence boom has a big problem. Technology companies say they need to quickly build lots of new power-hungry data centers to develop A.I., but the energy industry typically needs years to construct power plants, solar farms and battery installations.
Three companies involved in installing and managing rooftop solar panels, home batteries, smart thermostats and other devices say they can solve the problem by tapping into devices — largely those that control, produce or store energy — in millions of American houses and apartments.
The companies are Tesla, the electric vehicle and battery maker; Sunrun, the country’s largest rooftop solar and battery installer; and Renew Home, a Google spin off that manages home thermostats and other devices. On Wednesday, they plan to announce that they are working together to free up enough electrical capacity to meet the needs of 17 large data centers during periods of high demand.
For example, after getting individuals to opt in, the companies could use software to direct thousands of the consumers’ home batteries to charge when there is an abundance of solar energy and then release that power after the sun has set. Making more energy available in the evening, when demand rises, would reduce or eliminate the need to add large power plants alongside new data centers.
“It takes a lot of time to build utility scale solutions,” said Mary Powell, chief executive of Sunrun, who once ran an electric utility in Vermont. “We’re sitting on top of solutions right now.”
Utilities generally have enough spare capacity to serve new data centers most of the time but not when demand for electricity is very high, including during heat waves and cold spells. Energy and technology executives have been struggling for years to figure out how to to power data centers when grids are under strain.
