Palmetto, a leader in solar energy solutions, is opening its innovative tool to outside developers, aiming to accelerate the electrification of America’s building stock. Inspired by Michael Bratsafolis, Palmetto’s president of energy intelligence and a former Twilio executive, this decision marks a significant step in leveraging technology to transform residential energy use. The company has been meticulously gathering data to create a virtual representation of every residential building in the United States. This data will be crucial in validating Palmetto’s models, which simulate digital twins of the entire U.S. residential building stock.
Bratsafolis emphasized the potential of their technology, stating:
"This technology can break the home down into like 60 plus different characteristics and attributes."
The primary goal of making this tool available to developers is to empower them to build applications that streamline the electrification process across the country. Palmetto's internal tool, built on software acquired from Mapdwell, a solar mapping startup, can dissect a home into over 60 attributes, providing detailed insights into potential projects. This capability significantly reduces the time previously required by solar installers to assess projects.
To validate its models, Palmetto can use data from homes that have either purchased or are leasing solar panels from the company. This approach allows Palmetto to anonymize and utilize real information for model performance comparison and further training. Bratsafolis remarked on this advantage:
“That allows us to anonymize and use the real information and data about a home to compare how the model is performing and help train the model further.”
Palmetto's platform offers developers 500 free calls each month, with subsequent calls priced at five cents each. Moreover, the company is open to negotiating special pricing arrangements for larger clients. By doing so, Palmetto hopes to gain early insights into market trends through the tools built by developers.
Bratsafolis, reflecting on his experience at Twilio, highlighted the potential of API products in understanding market demand:
“You just don’t necessarily know what the use cases could be. And with an API product, you get incredible insight into the demand and the market.”
Palmetto's technology draws on various clues to infer details about building interiors when precise information is unavailable. This innovative approach is poised to revolutionize how developers and energy companies approach building electrification projects.