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: