DC Power Hour

In this episode’s Battery Blarney segment, George Pedersen and Allen Byrne talk with hosts David Neubert and Andrew Charlton about their take on innovative technology that is shaking up the industry. They discuss information about innovation in the battery world from valve regulated lead acid batteries to lithium-ion batteries. They also share their opinion on the importance of recycling these batteries and the charging system. 

On the second segment of the show, Andrew continues the conversation with Alex Smith who is the Chief Technology Officer at a startup company called Moxion. They talk about the replacement for temporary power for diesel generators which is what the company is trying to build. 

Episode Highlights:

2:37 The problem we have is, it’s not that we don’t have innovation in the battery world, but the biggest problem is that the industries are very slow to accept anything that hasn’t been around for 20 years. 

7:26 You can call it disrupter but it was simply the evolution to meet a requirement. 

13:45 I think there are a lot of limitations with what they’re going to be able to do. 

14:34 The maintenance on the lithium-ion batteries is not that stable at the moment but the big thing about them is this alone is a lot of development. 

22:38 Maintenance is a challenge for a lot of industries at the moment. 

29:22 One of the things he predicted is the use of Wireless Transmission of Power. 

33:04 One of the biggest challenges in the industry is to find some way of recycling lithium-ion batteries the best way. 

53:37 Interview with Alex Smith

56:17 We really started with the temporary power need. Is the technology mature enough to provide a temporary power supply that can run long enough, be transportable and economical?

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In this episode of DC Power Hour, we learn about the impact of electric vehicles on the power industry. Industry experts George Pedersen and Allan Byrne hold a spirited debate on the pros and cons of Electric Vehicles in the Battery Blarney segment. They discuss the safety of lithium batteries, the environmental impact of alternative energy sources, and infrastructure changes needed to accommodate electric vehicle charging in the home. 

Then, hosts David Neubert and Andrew Carlton speak with Jeff Springer, Manager of Innovation and Efficient Electrification at Dairyland Power Cooperative. They talk about all things EV in the electrical grid, renewable energy credits, and innovations in consumer charging stations in homes and public spaces.

Episode Highlights

01:32 They’re with us whether we like it or not.

04:24 There’s a natural reluctance to change as part of this. 

06:04 I think people are starting to look in different directions at the moment because of the sometimes deserved, sometimes not deserved, problems with lithium batteries. 

08:15 These goals are set with no consideration of technology; with no consideration of public acceptance.

12:16 How do you charge this (electric vehicle), where’s the power coming from? Nine times out of 10 it’s coming from a fossil fuel power plant. 

15:59 We’re not just talking about a product here; we’re talking about an entire infrastructure change in what America currently is and what it needs to be. 

18:45 They (solar and wind) are not a good method of producing that baseline power that we require to produce that power we need for our everyday living resources.   

29:25 CHARGE - provides charging infrastructure both in people’s homes and in rural areas where public charging is needed but no one else seems to be building any.

43:51 The growth of EV’s has been relatively slow up until this point, but we do anticipate it taking off.

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In this episode of the DC Power Hour podcast, we learn about equipment redundancy. In the Battery Blarney segment, industry experts George Pedersen and Allan Byrne explain what it is, why it is important, and what applications it pertains to. They discuss their experience in the telecom industry and the evolution from redundant chargers to redundant battery systems. Today, the utility industry recognizes that redundancy is essential to maintain the electrical supply.

In the second segment, David Neubert welcomes Dennis Martini, an engineering technical consultant from Dominion Energy. George speaks with Dennis about equipment redundancy in DC substation systems and how Dominion Energy has prepared for potential loss of power with a high level of redundancy. 

Episode Highlights

1:42 As the industry evolved, UPS’s started coming on the market.

3:20 On my first visit to a substation, to say I was shocked was an understatement. There was a substation controlling quite a large area for people in that area and it had a single battery and a single charger.

4:37 We have a lot of substations in this country and it’s going to take a long time to get them all up to speed and meet the requirements of the new standard.

5:39  When you talk about redundancy, you’re not just talking about a redundant charger, you’re not just talking about a redundant battery. You’ve got to look at the whole system.

12:36  When you start looking at redundancy within the utilities, one of the challenges has been there simply isn’t enough space to add another battery. A 120 volt battery is quite large.

17:53 If you’ve lost the ability to charge them, you’ve only got the run time of the battery, that’s all you’ve got before you have complete failure.

26:30 Dennis- We’ll use them (secondary chargers) in a load-sharing capacity so they're both on all the time, but the one is there in case one were to fail. We also do it in locations where we need quicker recharge time.

27:48 We also have battery trailers that are outfitted with chargers and a whole set of batteries. If we got into a bind, we strategically place them throughout our system on stand-by.  

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In this episode’s Battery Blarney segment, George Pedersen and Allen Byrne talk with hosts David Neubert and Andrew Charlton about why Battery Monitoring is important. They discuss artificial intelligence, or machine learning, and the new role it plays in replicating the work of battery technicians. Routine maintenance is a must for success.

Andrew continues the conversation with industry expert Nigel Scott who offers an engineering perspective on battery monitoring and what has - and hasn’t - changed over the years. According to Nigel, the point of a battery monitoring system is to avoid trouble. 

Episode Highlights

07:16 If you could only look at a couple of things about a battery, what would you look at? Overwhelmingly two of the top items were: battery temperature and battery charge current.

14:24 Getting accurate measurements off the battery is probably the biggest challenge the manufacturers of monitors have.

18:03 The key to making and achieving good results with machine learning is the ability to collect a lot of data and analyze all that data. 

19:14 The machine can replicate a thousand battery technicians by just looking at a whole data set, but it needs to know what to look at.

23:32 You can not 100% totally rely on battery monitoring as the only source of information. You still need to inspect the battery on a regular basis.

33:55 Interview with Andrew Charlton and Nigel Scott

37:56 The goal of a user who buys a battery monitoring system is to avoid difficulties if and when a battery should fail.

40:36 If you just present raw data to a customer - especially a customer with a lot of systems - you’re asking for trouble.

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In this episode of the DC Power Hour podcast, our host David Neubert talks about the effect of the pandemic on the DC power industry with George Pedersen and Allen Byrne. The two experts shared that the pandemic has hit the industry in different ways. They talked about the supply chain and cost maintenance as two of the many things that affected them during the pandemic. They touched on some amazing topics that will teach us about the industry. 

The second segment of the podcast is called “CEO Corner”. Today’s guest was Ryan Sberna who is the CEO of Eagle Eye Power Solutions. He talks about how the business has been affected by the pandemic. He shares some of the ways they handled the challenges faced during this time. 

Episode Highlights

02:48 The two biggest things are, one is supply chain, getting the right components to build a system. The other thing that’s been the biggest problem is maintenance cost. 

03:06 I think the problem is not just our industry, it’s overall, we simply weren’t prepared and we didn’t know how to handle the situation. 

04:49 One of the lessons that’s been learned is to provide money into improving infrastructure. 

05:43 Maintenance really has to become part of the process. 

12:06 I find that we’re lagging behind standards. Also, a lot of conferences have been canceled last year and there’s a lot of knowledge that’s been given, imparted and shared at these conferences and that hasn’t been possible. 

17:56 We’re still reacting rather than implementing new procedures properly. 

27:15 “CEO Corner” – Ryan Sberna is sharing his thoughts and challenges during the pandemic. 

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The topic of this episode covers the importance of battery room safety. In the Battery Blarney segment, George and Allen talk about some of the issues that can occur when safety precautions are overlooked, and why they are overlooked. They also discuss what to do when there is a battery spill or accident in a battery room. 

In the Field Report segment, Dave talks with Eagle Eye Service Field Tech Manager, Dustin Parker, about what he sees every day in the field regarding safety and precautions taken in the battery rooms he frequently works in.   

Episode Highlights

03:38 - There are several other codes and standards that apply to battery charge or safety. The problem is that some of them do not agree with each other. 

15:19 – If you understand what the problems are, you can at least take a series of precautions when you try to do it.

18:10 – Part of the cost of doing a job was that you went on site ahead of the job, and you did the complete survey to understand what the challenges were, what was required in order to do the job. That concept of doing a survey seems to have disappeared in every aspect. 

25:52 – Field Report segment – Dave interviews Dustin Parker about safety in the battery rooms. 

29:51 – Always make sure your stuff is at 100% to what it was when you took it out of the package.  

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In the Battery Blarney segment of this episode, George and Allen talk about the aging grid infrastructure in America and the proposed infrastructure bill. They also talk about what happened in Texas and discuss problems with financial engineering and energy storage. One of the problems is that the infrastructure has not kept pace with the modern electronic age. We want to modernize everything and make it all remotely monitored but we have to make sure that those networks are secure and accessible. We have to decide where we want this power to come from, and what energy storage to use when the demand increases.  

In the Product Spotlight segment, Luke Walder, the Eagle Eyes’ head of sales, talks with George about challenges and issues associated with ground faults and how Eagle Eyes’ GFL 1000 can help address some of the issues. 

Episode Highlights

04:53 – The Texas fiasco was a perfect example of everything that was wrong with the regulation. 

09:45 – The biggest problem I see with it is, these are all private or public companies. They are supposed to provide all their own money to supply the service they are selling. 

14:40 – We should be beefing up the infrastructure and adding to it. And when we do that, we have to look at cybersecurity. That’s the biggest problem that we are going to face. 

24:45 – Product Spotlight – George talks about DC ground fault – what it is, what are the primary concerns associated with it, the importance of GFL 1000…

29:08 – If you have a ground fault, you want to fix it as soon as possible. Because, even if it is not causing you a problem right at this moment, something else can usually happen that would cause a problem with it. So, do not leave anything unattended.

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In the first section of this episode, Dave Neubert leads George and Allen to discuss the importance of battery maintenance. They talk about the problems they have seen due to a lack of maintenance, and how catastrophic it can be. The costs due to the battery failure can reach millions of dollars. Lives could be lost potentially. But there are some steps we can do to start to maintain batteries properly.

In the “10 in 10” section, the CEO at Eagle Eye Ryan Sberna discusses with their skilled service manager Erik Knudtson, how battery monitoring aids in long-term battery maintenance. 

Episode Highlights

01:42 – All forms of maintenance are important, but battery maintenance in particular. The battery is always the power source of last resort, and you really want to know that it is going to work. 

05:19 – I have seen it all, from lack of electrolyte in them to not being charged properly. But in the worst cases, the battery has been left in cabinets for UPS for years.  

08:58 – If you don’t have any maintenance records, you will have warranty problems. And the battery is not going to be there when you need it the most. Like in Katrina. The problems that we have identified years before, were still there, and just in worse condition. And when people tried to coordinate rescue efforts, the sites failed. 

14:16 –Steps we can take to improve our maintaining batteries - online monitoring, visual inspection, and education so the data can be analyzed correctly. 

20:30 – “10 in 10” section – Erik Knudtson chares his perspective from the field, answering 10 questions on battery monitoring as the future of battery maintenance. 

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In this very first episode of the DC Power Hour podcast, our host Dave Neubert introduces the podcast and his guests. In the first segment of the podcast, “Battery Blarney”, Dave introduces George Pedersen and Allen Byrne, two experts who will be featured in every episode of the podcast. Today they are sharing their story – how they have started and what motivates them to continue working. They touched on some of the problems and challenges they have seen over the years, and shared their thoughts on where the industry is going. 

The second segment of the podcast is “10 Powerful Questions in 10 Minutes”. Today’s guest host Andrew Charlton, the stationary power expert and sales manager, talks with Lucas Berndt, the product expert when it comes to industrial stationary chargers.

Episode Highlights

01:50 – “Battery Blarney” with George and Allen. They share about how they started and what brought them to Eagle Eye. 

07:18 – When you spend so much of your time working, it is important to enjoy what you’re doing. The other thing that motivates me is stupidity. And correcting some of the problems and misunderstandings.

09:20 – We’ve lost a couple of generations of power engineers that understand the job. It is short-sightedness. 

20:20 – It was fascinating to see how something that I had worked on all these years ago has been developed over the years in different formats to now being used to power 5G

24:40 – “10 in 10” section – Lucas Berndt is answering ten questions on where the charger industry is and where it is going.

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Welcome to “DC Power Hour”– the show where we will discuss everything related to – you guessed it – critical DC power solutions. Twice a month, we will get together and have a little fun talking with experts about the issues that are important to us and our industry. At Eagle Eye, we are huge on sharing knowledge, and our goal is to both educate and entertain our audience with this podcast. So, charge up, power on, or do whatever it is you have to do to get yourself excited for “DC Power Hour”!