IN OUR HEADS
January 14, 2025
I went into CES week 2025 thinking the main intersecting trend would be AI-driven gadgets and upgrades from the last few years’ breakout developments in artificial intelligence. In many ways that was true, from show-stealing advancements in hardware like NVIDIA’s to a good amount of lesser quality AI slop – and I’m not only referencing AI’s pollutive health costs, which are set to double that of the US steel industry by 2030.
But AI isn’t the only technology we can (or should) care about when there are so many other tools that help to run our lives every second of the day. Notably, there was another tech trend at this year’s CES that not as many people are likely to have noticed, but that made me unexpectedly excited: personal energy systems.
Now I know that doesn’t sound as initially sexy as a self-aware emoji maker, but I’ve been professionally educating people on and writing about microgrids and home energy ecosystems since 2018 and can promise that there is something incredibly exciting to be found once you get beyond the naming reminiscent of an aisle in The Home Depot.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of a microgrid, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory defines them as “a group of interconnected […] distributed energy resources that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. It can connect and disconnect from the grid to operate in grid-connected or island mode.” Basically, an energy system that can fulfill your energy needs with or without the utility grid infrastructure around you.
One of the most notable cases of microgrid technologies, no matter how you may feel about them, is Tesla’s solar panel + electric vehicle (EV) + Powerwall home battery system. (Tesla’s energy storage offerings are actually what delivered the company’s stronger-than-expected earnings in 2024 as the energy storage industry continues to surge in the face of Tesla’s dropped vehicle sales.) The system allows for generation of energy from the solar panels on one’s roof, distribution into the home and whatever you may be powering, including an electric vehicle, excess energy is stored in the battery system to maintain power when the home system isn’t generating, and leftover energy beyond that can even be sold back to the larger utility system to make the user money off of generation for their neighbors.
These technologies have all existed and been sold at a consumer level for some time now, moving further beyond just early-adopter markets as products hit a smoother adoptability process (such as through the beautification of rooftop solar panels). What was especially compelling to me about this year’s CES energy lineup, though, was the way in which it felt like energy is being decentralized in an increasing number of areas in consumers’ lives.
The following 4 reveals from CES don’t encompass all of the personal energy technologies that were shown off at this year’s event, nor anywhere near the growing industry as a whole. They are, however, the ones that made this particular tech nerd the most excited to discuss the potential of having autonomy over your own energy:
Casual Solar: 
(Tag: Anker’s solar panel cloak concept via @AnkerSOLIX on X formerly Twitter)
Anker grabbed headlines with the reveal of their new electric cooler and solar umbrella meant to feed off the sun along with you at the beach, but I was more excited by their solar cloak concept. They’re calling this very cyberpunk piece the “world’s first wearable solar panel” – though I think the already on sale EcoFlow solar hat would like a word. Anker’s cloak is certainly more stylish, however, and I’ve already said my piece on the excitement we could find in Solar Punk aesthetics.
I hope it’s only a matter of time before we have a way of easily integrating solar paneling at the flexibility of fashion, though less so to just have all of your t-shirts be able to keep your phone charged like EcoFlow’s hat (imagine the wasted metals), and more for the advancement we could see from hyper-flexible solar wraps at a consumer level. Being able to set up the generative yields of a solar panel with the ease and flexibility of throwing down a picnic blanket holds countless use cases, so in the meantime, experiments like this still hold their merit, and I’ll happily hop on the streetwear waitlist.
Electric Automotive: 
Tag: (The Scout Traveler and Terra, via Scout Motors)
I got my start in automotive and continue to work in the space; particularly around EVs. Lately, I’ve been hearing plenty of excitement for Scout. Scout made its headline splash well before CES with the announcement of its electric pickup and SUV, which are set to enter production in 2027, but their continued presence and hold on the consumer experience conversation as shown at CES has really kept them as the talk of the space recently. Every year we joke about the concept cars that show up at CES that will -definitely- enter production before never being seen again, and part of that reasoning is because the concepts can stray so far from consumer demand. I know plenty of people who would love an EV that looks like it was imported from Jupiter, but especially when it comes to electric trucks you need to play to larger consumer wants as close as you can.
Scout has obviously been doing that work, developing their user experience system so closely off of community feedback that they named it “Community UX.” Scout’s approach and design are obviously audience forward, even reviving driving console physical buttons that consumers have missed and governments are starting to re-mandate for safety. As noted by Sean O’Kane in TechCrunch, “Scout’s not anti-tech. After all, its vehicles will be among the first to use the software and electrical architecture from the newly formed joint venture between Rivian and Volkswagen.” So long as Scout continues on the path it’s plotted, these vehicles will be tech and consumer need driven.
Importantly, Scout’s vehicles are set to be capable of bidirectional charging. This means that they have the capacity to be the “battery on wheels” vehicle that we are increasingly seeing in the EV space, as allowing your car to act as additional energy storage for your home, on-site tools, and more creates serious efficiencies while putting you further in charge of your own energy consumption.
(The Risk of) Small-scale Battery Swaps: 
Tag: (The Swippitt battery-swapping phone charger, via Swippitt)
Swippitt went viral from CES for what many have dubbed its “phone toaster.” It’s a clever device, using the established concept of battery swapping. Battery swapping occurs when, rather than waiting for a charge, your device or vehicle has a battery port that you can swap your low power battery out of and a new, charged battery into from a holding station. Swippitt claims to provide your phone with a fresh charge in “2 seconds” by swapping a new battery in place of the now used, lower energy one housed in its compatible, external battery backup phone case.
My issue with the Swippitt product, aside from its hefty $450 price point, is potential for incredible waste. The product is being discussed online as a potential solution for on-the-go families that need to have a handful of charged batteries on hand at all times. But remember, this isn’t a fast charger. It’s a battery library. If a family gets a Swippitt, that has already doubled the battery resources they’re using (and wasting) with their phones. If a single person household gets a Swippitt, that’s at least 5x the precious metals and energy strain being conducted to speed up a solution that can and is already solved for by simply having a charger and the slightest awareness of one’s own schedule. The fact that the batteries will be kept in a charging range to maintain a longer lifecycle isn’t that sustainably effective when there are suddenly more batteries on hand anyway.
I can’t imagine for security and quality reasons that anyone will be willing to drop their phone in a communal Swippitt in public and risk losing a battery they’ve taken care of to play roulette with a stranger’s. I do love a home battery, so you could potentially sell me with a Swippitt use case if there’s eventually proven bidirectional charging to support devices in your house during energy generation off-hours -and- battery recyclability like we’re beginning to see with electric vehicle batteries. In the meantime, note the already ongoing battery material struggle and remember your phone has a battery-saver mode.
Home Energy: 
Tag: (The Savant Smart Budget feature, via Savant from The Verge)
When it comes to home energy systems, for years I’ve spotlit home batteries specifically given their critical role in an intelligent energy future. CES this year, as with 2024, certainly had great home energy storage solutions to share. Bluetti has been gaining attention for their flagship kits, including portable and modular power storage and solar generators – talk about controlling your energy setup. But this year I got excited thinking about the UX of our intelligent grids thanks to Savant’s Smart Budget app feature. The Smart Budget feature, part of Savant’s Smart Power system, allows users to navigate around the limits of their home energy capacity to add more high-draw devices without overloading your system. Per Wes Davis at The Verge: “[…] you could set it so that power only goes to your EV overnight after you’re done using your oven. That sort of control can also be useful if you’re using a house battery or running on solar power.”
This type of intelligent, connected, and efficiency-building energy interface is exactly the type of thing that gets me excited for the future of energy. Think about the savings, both in cost and energy waste, that we can achieve by being more plugged in to the infrastructure in our own homes. Not to mention, Savant has set the price point for this system at just $1.5k to increase your energy usability, in comparison to the hassle and likely far greater costs of working with your utility provider to provide you with greater amperage (also likely in a far less intelligent and more wasteful way).
Microgrid technology is still in its relative early days, but it’s obvious that the wave of personal energy autonomy continues to gain traction. Whether you’re in it to support an energy landscape that’s better for the planet or just here for the cost savings, you have to admit it’s a more intelligent way of doing things.
