We Didn’t Start the Fire

Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcast The world’s fifth-largest economy looked more like a developing country last week, as PG&E purposefully cut power to millions of people in Northern California for days. We knew this was coming. The growing safety and financial risk of wildfires in the state mean mass power outages will become more common. But in this case, PG&E was slammed for the way it handled things. We’ll dig into the scope, the fallout, and the solutions of California’s power shutoffs due to wildfire threats. Then: Dyson made a big business out of selling $400 hair dryers and $500 vacuum cleaners, but it couldn’t make a high-end electric car work. We’ll talk about why Dyson wrote off its EV plans. Finally, the Trump administration lifts a tariff exemption for bifacial solar panels. So why are these two-sided solar panels becoming so popular now? Additional resources:New York Times: Inside PG&E’s Control RoomBloomberg: What Happens When a Vacuum Company Tries to Make an Electric CarGTM Squared: Has Bifacial Solar Finally Moved From Theoretical to Practical?Support for this podcast is brought to you by Sungrow. With the world’s most powerful 250-kilowatt, 1,500-volt string inverter, Sungrow is providing disruptive technology for utility-scale projects. Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.