In this episode of Earthlings 2.0, we sit down with Whit Fulton, founder and Chief Product Officer of ConnectDER, to explore how a simple but powerful innovation, the meter socket adapter, is reshaping residential solar, storage, and EV adoption. By turning the meter socket into a universal plug-in point, ConnectDER removes one of the biggest barriers to home electrification: complex, costly, and time-consuming wiring upgrades. Whit discusses the origins of the idea, the industry’s over-reliance on policy incentives, the persistent challenge of soft costs, and the larger paradigm shift from hardwired to plug-and-play clean energy systems.
Key Points:
- Solar’s Soft Cost Problem – While panels themselves are cheap, permitting, sales, and installation overhead make solar feel like a construction project instead of an appliance purchase.
- The Plug-In Breakthrough – ConnectDER’s meter socket adapter lets homeowners plug solar, EV chargers, or batteries directly into the grid interface, cutting installation from days to minutes.
- Scalable and Universal – Compatible with 95% of U.S. homes, the technology has already reached ~30,000 deployments across 20 states, with California soon joining.
- Whit Fulton, Founder and Chief Product Officer of ConnectDER, LinkedIn
- Lisa Ann Pinkerton, Earthlings 2.0 Host, CEO of Technica Communications, and Founder of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability, LinkedIn
- Previous episodes discussed:
- #74 - Making Home Energy Storage Accessible For All
- #91- Building Resilient, All-Electric Homes for the Future with Arch Rao
🚀 Calling all Earthlings…
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Mentioned in this episode:
Q3 End Credits
Greenlane, Ampion, Tigo, USBI, 247 Solar