Power design industry experts chart megatrends for storage of electricity from renewable sources.

While more than a billion people on the planet don’t have access to a power grid, we are witnessing a growing pervasiveness of small solar systems in which a solar panel and a battery are connected to constitute a system along with an electrical outlet, either a USB port or an AC adapter. These pay-as-you-go solar systems are growing in popularity in Africa and some parts of Asia, where people can access electricity for about $6 to $8 a month.

This allows fishermen to freeze what they catch and get it to the market safely. People are also able to have light bulbs, TVs, and mobile phone chargers in their homes. Alex Lidow, power semiconductors industry veteran and CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), called this a quiet trend when he spoke on a panel during the Green Engineering Summit held virtually last week. He said that many startups, as well as large companies, are now operating in this field.