Illu Digital Learning & Work Verification Software

05/02/2024

Can you believe California's demand response capacity is less than 1/5 of Alabama's? Minnesota's? Despite high pe*******on of DERs and highly publicized pilot programs, California's VPP rollout "is just not yet happening at the scale you would expect," per the Brattle Group's new report. The researchers conclude the biggest gap is still in "seamless participation".

The illu team has also heard repeatedly that bureaucratic difficulties in enrollment and registration has caused major headaches in VPP participation. We're working with manufacturers now to embed VPP registrations seamlessly within the commissioning process, targeting the ConnectedSolutions, SGIP and LUMA programs. If you'd like to collaborate, please reach out!

03/07/2024

📢 We’re excited to share some news about an upcoming change that affects our mobile application on iOS and Android — it’s now called “illu EnergyPros.” This update is more than just a tweak to the name; it’s a reflection of our ongoing commitment to providing a versatile platform for everyone driving the clean energy transition.

Learn more about this change on our medium post:

02/08/2024

The energy transition and broad electrification of heat, industrial processes, and transportation means that utilities are facing rising peak demand for the first time in decades. Instead of default to the status quo of bringing on more centralized capacity, there's a compelling case for integration distributed capacity through VPPs as a more efficient and equitable strategy that can also deliver better economic outcomes to the utilities themselves. However this depends on successful collaboration and partnerships between the utilities to lay out the right incentive framework, manufacturers to connect their distributed assets to the VPP programs, and electricians & contractors to install and maintain the equipment. Ultimately, "electrification can be a challenge or it can be an opportunity. It’s our choice to make."

It’s time for electricity providers to choose virtual power plants.

11/09/2023

E2's report assessed that there will be new employment spurred by 210 major clean-energy projects announced in the first 12 months after IRA’s passage. Specifically, a total of 303,500 jobs each year over a typical five-year construction phase, and a total of another 99,600 jobs each year after that in their long-term operations.

The biggest driver of jobs in the renewable energy sector is in EV (58%) and batteries (17%). The clean energy transition is happening at scale and we should recognize the importance in training the newcomers that are growing in these new professions.

A new analysis finds 400,000-plus jobs will be created from the 210 EV, battery and clean energy projects launched since the climate law passed.

09/21/2023

Nigeria experienced an explosion on a major transmission line last week, causing a "total system collapse" as reported by its electrical distribution companies. Power generation fell to zero at one point. The Nigerian grid collapsed at least 4 times in 2022.

Gas-powered generators had been the de-facto backup option for the millions of residents dealing with these power failures. However, it's becoming more prohibitively expensive as gas prices have doubled over the past year. There's an opportunity to bring in a cleaner and more affordable solution through new solar and storage technologies.

Nigeria's electricity distribution companies reported "a total system collapse" on Thursday after a fire on a major transmission line, causing widespread blackouts across Africa's biggest economy, before power slowly started to return.

08/31/2023

Soft costs are increasingly dominating the total costs of installing solar energy systems. However, "we haven’t been thinking about soft technology design as systematically as we have for hardware. That needs to change." says Prof. Trancik of MIT. The study authors specifically identified "creating more efficient workflows for system installation" as one of the key strategies to bring soft costs down, especially around "processes that still happen in a very low-tech way through people communicating with one another."

illu is doing exactly this! We are proud to be tackling exactly this strategy to continue reducing installation & O&M costs for solar and distributed energy.

A new analysis from MIT researchers reveals that soft technology, the processes to design and deploy a solar energy system, contributed far less to the total cost declines of solar installations than previously estimated. Their quantitative model shows that driving down solar energy costs in the fut...

07/21/2023

We're excited to announce the launch of the new illu website! Our team has been working around the clock to bring up new exciting features. The new site covers how everything fits into the flow of deploying new solar, storage, and electrification assets, with specific use case examples.

Come take a peek at https://www.illu.works/!

07/13/2023

Texas isn't commonly known for being green, but the state is giving California some competition when it comes to new solar and battery installations. Texas accounted for nearly 70% of grid battery additions in the U.S. in the first three months of 2023, resulting in a total capacity of 3,300 MW, almost all of which have come online since early 2021. The Texas grid today is holding up well even during the heat wave, indicating that it's much more resilient than the Texas grid that failed during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.

Renewables and storage are saving Texans money as temperatures soar and coal and natural gas power plants fail.

07/06/2023

🎉 Amazing to see that we added ~300,000 jobs to the clean energy sector in 2022, bringing the total up to 8.1 million jobs. illu is excited to help onboard and orient these new entrants into the sector by giving them the tools and guidance to succeed on the energy frontlines. 🔧🛠

This year, we have a clear picture of the positive impact of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Here are 6 key findings from the report

06/13/2023

📢 New feature alert! illu now offers Custom Tags on Jobs. Easily filter and find the jobs you need by filtering and searching their tags.

All users can now define custom tags to be attached to any job, which can be used for categorization such as priority, equipment, or type.