Smart Electrical Panels: Avoiding $25K Upgrades to Enable Home Electrification with Arch Rao
Updating home electrification is key to a sustainable future, but outdated electrical infrastructure has long been a bottleneck. Arch Rao and Span are out to change that.
Join Dylan Garrett on this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, as he welcomes Arch Rao, Founder and CEO of SPAN, to discuss how his company is reinventing the humble electrical panel for a modern, electrified home. Drawing on his experience at Tesla Energy, Arch explains how SPAN’s smart panel enables homeowners to monitor, control, and optimize their energy use, without costly service upgrades. He shares how SPAN is helping accelerate the adoption of solar, EVs, and batteries through intelligent load management and design aesthetics. From forging utility partnerships to scaling hardware manufacturing, Arch reveals what it takes to build climate-impactful hardware and unlock the next era of smart home energy systems.
--------
54:16
--------
54:16
Onshore Wave Energy: 90% Availability, Transforming Renewable Power Generation
Wave energy has the potential to provide up to 66% of U.S. electricity needs, but offshore systems have long struggled with cost, durability, and scalability. All that is about to change.
In this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, host Dylan Garrett welcomes Inna Braverman, founder and CEO of Eco Wave Power, to explore how her company is making wave energy commercially viable through an innovative onshore approach. Inna shares her personal journey from surviving the Chernobyl disaster as an infant to becoming a pioneer in clean energy at just 24. She explains why building on existing coastal infrastructure reduces costs and risks, how wave energy’s 90% availability rate complements solar and wind, and why focusing on achievable early markets is key to scaling climate tech.
--------
42:59
--------
42:59
From Solar’s 90% Cost Crash to AI’s Energy Surge: The Economics Driving Climate Tech
Solar panel costs have dropped 90% in the past two decades, transforming clean energy from subsidy-dependent to economically viable on its own. If we care about scaling climate tech, we need to understand the role of economics, policy, and geography in shaping which solutions thrive.
In this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, host Dylan Garrett welcomes Pavel Molchanov, Investment Strategy Analyst at Raymond James, to share insights from his 20 years of studying energy markets. Pavel explains why economic viability is more important than technical breakthroughs, how different regions demand different solutions, and why climate adaptation will be essential. He offers a clear-eyed view of what it really takes for climate tech to achieve global impact.
--------
1:02:03
--------
1:02:03
93% Lower Impact: The Tech Making Sustainable Fashion Competitive
The fashion industry produces 97 million tons of waste each year, and is responsible for 10% of global emissions and 20% of freshwater pollution. If we care about our planet, we need to take a closer look at sustainable fashion, and that is where Ravel enters the picture.
In this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, host Dylan Garrett welcomes Ravel cofounders Zahlen Titcomb and Kristen Albrecht to discuss their breakthrough textile recycling technology. By recycling polyester and blended fabrics with 59% less energy while matching the price of virgin materials, Ravel is proving that sustainability can scale. They share insights on market-driven solutions, industry adoption, and transforming one of the world’s most polluting industries.
--------
50:55
--------
50:55
Cryo-Compressed Hydrogen: Solving America’s 50 GW Diesel Generator Problem
In this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, host Dylan Garrett welcomes Ted McKlveen, co-founder and CEO of Verne, to discuss hydrogen’s rising role in clean power generation. They dive into Verne’s cryo-compressed hydrogen storage technology and its potential to replace diesel generators, especially in data centers and remote areas. Ted explains why hydrogen may be a practical and scalable solution for supporting the electrical grid and decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, like trucking, by offering both economic and environmental benefits in the race toward a cleaner energy future.
Our planet is warming at an unsustainable rate. This climate crisis is being caused by humans and it will take human ingenuity to stop or reverse it... Hardware to Save a Planet explores the technical innovations that are giving us hope in the fight against climate change. Each episode focuses on a specific climate challenge and explores an emerging physical technology solution, with the person bringing it into reality. Hosted by Dylan Garrett, President at Synapse.
Brasil