Span Raises $10.2 Million to Optimize Solar, Energy Storage, and Electric Vehicle Charging

"Self-sufficiency and control within the home are top-of-mind for many homeowners with power outage concerns now compounded by coronavirus shelter-in-place orders," said Span founder and CEO Arch Rao, who formerly led the product team at Tesla Energy for the Powerwall. "Last fall, power outages affected millions in California, and shutoffs are starting again as utilities perform precautionary maintenance in fire-risk areas. We developed the Span smart panel to give homeowners greater energy independence in the face of these growing challenges. With Span, they have greater control over their home energy, especially when they need it most."

Delivering much more than the passive current protection of the conventional electrical panels found in every home, the Span smart panel enables digital automation of home energy and more smooth installations for clean energy upgrades. While the standard electrical panel has not seen major innovation for nearly a century, today's homes are in need of new functionality to better manage modern connected devices, appliances, electronics, and energy upgrades such as solar panels, batteries, and EV charging systems.

Span's smart panel provides monitoring and control for 32 circuits, all managed through a smartphone interface. When the power goes out, Span automatically islands the house and allows homeowners to select what parts of their homes they want to power, going far beyond existing solutions that are limited to covering just a few critical loads.

The Span panel is listed to UL standards that mirror this step-change in functionality: UL standard 67 for the regular electrical panel as well as UL 916 for energy management equipment and UL 869A for service equipment.

For installers performing solar and storage installations, the panel reduces labor by streamlining the total number of components. Early estimates indicate the installation time to be 50 percent faster than current solutions, resulting in fewer components required and a smaller, more streamlined overall installation.