Google. Facebook. Amazon. Tech giants known for their continuing development of innovative solutions to modern problems. In order to face an ever-increasing number of challenges, these companies and others have turned to open source software. They've enabled anyone and everyone to modify and share their platforms and solutions.
A quick search for open source energy solutions reveals something surprising: not a single one of the top patent and application holders for the sector show up. Loek Bakker, head of information management at Dutch energy distribution company TenneT, believes this stems from the industry's focus on tradition. Arjan Stam, director of network management at Alliander, expands on this by suggesting that there is a lack of cooperation among utilities. Neither Tennet nor Alliander have patents or applications in the sector.
Integrating a large number of technologies within existing infrastructures creates hardships with existing and future utility operations. Not all aspects magically integrate together without requiring modification. In many cases, entirely new code needs to be written for everything to function properly. At some point, energy producers and utility companies need to adopt standards enabling communication and facilitating easier grid integration. This requires a break from tradition and cooperation.
Enter open source. If every component shared a set of common standards, upgrading and adding new grid components would introduce far less frustrations. This lack of product and utility compatibility is where open source can provide a solution. Enabling an open source style development model allows outside developers to make software more efficient and functional as it is adapted to meet their own needs. It's more than just increasing efficiency though. It's about community, collaboration, and transparency for the mutual benefit of developers and users. This type of model pushes developers to constantly contribute new features and ensure compatibility with older functions.
It worked for Google's TensorFlow, now a standard framework for AI applications. It's embraced by IBM and Walmart. Why not the energy industry too?
