Volts

Volts

Home
Podcast
Subscribe
Donate
About

Batteries

A Tesla vet tries to master the VPP market
Kunal Girotra and I explore the massive potential of combining plug-and-play home batteries with smart enterprise software to stabilize the grid
 • David Roberts
1:16:32
Clean electrification is inevitable
Kingsmill Bond explains why the global march of "electrotech" has moved beyond the reach of US political interference.
 • David Roberts
1:22:33
Are we finally getting 3D-printed batteries?
Sakuu's Karl Littau joins me to discuss how 3D-printing is poised to make battery manufacturing cheaper and more adaptable.
 • David Roberts
54:19
How inverters can stabilize a renewables-heavy grid
Daniel Duckwitz and Catarina Augusto explain how we can run stable electricity grids on inverter-based clean energy resources.
 • David Roberts
1:02:18
What's the deal with sodium-ion batteries?
Landon Mossburg on beating lithium-ion on cost and safety with a grid storage system that has no moving parts.
 • David Roberts
1:18:32
What's going on with electric boats?
Arc CEO Mitch Lee on building electric vehicles for lake sports.
 • David Roberts
1:02:19
Solar+storage is so much farther along than you think
On how plummeting battery prices make 24/7 solar power a reality today.
 • David Roberts
1:05:02
What's the deal with pumped-hydro energy storage?
Can two artificial reservoirs and gravity compete with batteries? Erik Steimle makes the case for modern pumped-hydro storage.
 • David Roberts
57:32
Should we put utilities in charge of distributed energy?
The grid needs to double in size - and the solution might be giving utilities control over DERs.
 • David Roberts
1:53:26
A tool that enables solar-first home electrification
James Quazi of Balto Energy helps California homeowners navigate the complex puzzle of optimizing the mix of electrification, solar, and batteries for…
 • David Roberts
50:35
A clever new way to distribute storage on the grid
A new startup called Base Power aims to bring more stability to the volatile Texas grid by selling customers oversized home batteries at minimal costs…
 • David Roberts
1:12:47
What's up with electric aviation?
CEO Kyle Clark of BETA Technologies walks us through the details of how to design, build, and operate electric planes — first for relatively short…
 • David Roberts
58:15
© 2026 David Roberts · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture