Distributed Energy & Compute: Summer Learning Series

Lunch Bunch starts June 2, First Wednesdays June 3, E-bike speed build June 10!

Welcome to My Next Electric, a newsletter about electrification + education. Today, we launch our Summer Learning Series on Distributed Energy and Compute!

• Tuesday Lunch Bunch at Scale in New Orleans - Free

  • Fundamentals of the distributed energy/compute tech stack

  • Every Tuesday in June, July, August at 612 Higgins Blvd in NOLA

• E-bike Speed Build Workshop at Uncommon Construction - $25

  • Hands-on w/1st 3 layers of the stack: batteries, motors, power electronics

  • 2-4 PM, Tuesday, June 10 at 1120 Freret Street, NOLA

• Monthly Distributed Energy/Compute Meetup - Free

  • What’s up in distributed energy/compute in NOLA & beyond

  • Hands-on learning that might make it into the formal course

  • 6-7 PM, First Wednesdays (June 3, July 1, August 5) at 1929 Valence, NOLA

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The Distributed Energy/Compute Futurestack

For the last few weeks, I’ve been workshopping an intro level course on distributed energy and compute with friends in New Orleans high schools and universities. It’s focused on the tech stack driving electrification of machines and decentralization of energy:

Thanks to Saul Griffith and Packy McCormick/Sam D’Amico for inspiration on the stack. See their amazing stuff in the course outline below.

Early versions of the course focused on the bottom three layers of electrification: batteries, electromagnetics/motors, and power electronics.

The latest version is inspired by coaching McMain High School’s robotics team and finally finishing my own 6-axis robot this spring. I’m fired up about the top two layers, too: embedded compute and world models.

2+ years of edits, part-swaps and tons of help from Chris @ anninrobotics.com and my AR4 is up and running.

In more than one feedback session, a professor or teacher said they wished they could take this course. Since I’m still sorting out where/when I might teach this to kids, I say we give it a spin while school’s out.

Let’s jam an untested course on fast-moving topics into a fun summer of co-learning

From June - August, I’m inviting anyone who’s interested to explore distributed energy and compute.

• A weekly lunch bunch will cover core readings for the course. Details below.

• The June 10 workshop at Uncommon Construction will test a key hands-on exercise, converting a regular bicycle to electric.

• Monthly meetups will focus on what’s happening in distributed energy and compute, in New Orleans and beyond.

Here’s my latest take on the course:

Intro to Distributed Energy & Compute

Overview

This course explores how electrification, distributed energy, and embedded compute are impacting our current, centralized energy system.

1. We’ll start with basic energy system intuition: how energy is generated, moved, stored and used by humans across the globe.

2. From there, we’ll embark on a hands-on study of the 5 building blocks of the emerging electro-tech revolution:

   • batteries

   • electromagnetics and motors

   • power electronics

   • embedded compute

   • LLMs and world models

   With help from trusted local partners, we’ll:

   • convert an analog bicycle to electric drive (batteries, electric motors, power electronics)

   • build a solar-powered agentic AI assistant (embedded compute, local LLM and world models)

3. We’ll bring these to life with real-time insights from startups I’ve invested in:

   1. B2U Energy Storage Solutions: 2nd-life EV battery power plants.

   2. Copper: Appliances with a battery inside.

   3. Flux Hybrids: Bolt-on electric drivetrains for worktrucks.

   4. Accelerate Wind: Rooftop wind turbines.

   5. Edge Energy: Rural EV charging gear.

   6. NeoCharge: Smart 240V splitters and load-management software.

   7. Popwheels: Charging cabinets for ebike batteries, FDNY-approved.

   8. Every Electric: Batteries drop-shipped to your apartment.

4. We’ll meet the people behind two of the most innovative distributed energy projects in the US, based right here in New Orleans.

   • Together New Orleans’ Community Lighthouse micro-grid network

   • New Orleans City Council’s $30M Virtual Power Plant Program

Scope and sequence / Readings

1. Visualizing the US Energy Grid: A Billion machines

   • Electrify: An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future, Saul Griffith, MIT Press

   • Reframing Energy for the Age of Electricity, Daan Walter, Kingsmill Bond, Ember

2. How that grid works: Building energy and grid intuition

   • Energy Cheat Sheet, Brian Potter, Construction Physics

   • The Batteries Included Fund investment thesis

   • My Search for a Gallon of Electricity, Matt Candler

3. Electrotech - A Sixth Industrial Revolution

   • The electrotech revolution in 10 charts and not too many numbers, Daan Walter, Ember

   • The Electric Slide, Packy McCormick, Sam D’Amico

     The Electric Slide

4. Electrostates vs Petrostates

   • PetroStates and ElectroStates in a World Divided by Fossil Fuels and Clean Energy, by Tatiana Mitrova, and Anne-Sophie Cobra

   • A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations, Robert Bryce

5. The Rise of Renewables: Free, intermittent, everywhere

   The Electrotech Revolution: Some insights into a new way of thinking about the transition, by Hannah Ritchie

6. Distributed Energy Resources, in New Orleans and beyond

   • When the power goes out, churches offer shelter through the Community Lighthouse network, Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens

   • Inside The Community Push for a VPP in New Orleans, Bianca Giacobone, Latitude Media

   • DERVOS 2025 Wrap Up!, Nicole Green, DER Task Force

Instructor, Matt Candler

I’m an expert in none of these topics, but I’m curious about them all. I’ve been an educator for 30 years, an electric motorcycle builder for 20, and an investor in batteries and electrified assets for 7.

• Investor: GP, Batteries Included Fund

• Builder, designer: Night Shift Bikes (EV conversions + grid integration)

• Educator: My Next Electric (9 cohorts to date, 200+ alumni), 4.0 Schools, NYC Charter Center, KIPP

• Mentor, Advisor: (Global All-Star) Techstars, Idea Village, 4.0 Schools, Corridor Ventures

Caution, experiment ahead

This is an experiment; you should expect:

1. Changes: Based on collective sense of what might work better once underway.

2. Pre-read options: I’ll have shallow and deep end options.

3. A mix of media: slides, small group, whole-group, hands-on experiments.

4. Perhaps, depth: We might score actual experts on some topics.

5. Co-learning: I’m an expert in none of these things, but I’m damn curious and eager to learn with you as we go.

   1. Can’t promise: perfection, a single hour of course credit.

   2. Can promise: high-energy, curious people, the chance to learn more deeply than you probably can chatting with an LLM.

Here are your options one more time:

• Tuesday Lunch Bunch at Scale in New Orleans - Free

  • Fundamentals of the distributed energy/compute tech stack

  • Every Tuesday in June, July, August at 612 Higgins Blvd in NOLA

• E-bike Speed Build Workshop with Uncommon Schools - $25

  • Hands-on w/1st 3 layers of the stack: batteries, motors, power electronics

  • 2-4 PM, Tuesday, June 10 at 1120 Freret Street, NOLA

• Monthly Distributed Energy/Compute Meetup

  • What’s up in distributed energy/compute in NOLA & beyond

  • Try hands-on learning modules that might make it into the formal course

  • 5-7 PM, First Wednesdays (June 3, July 1, August 5) at 1929 Valence, NOLA

For the most updated version of the course and more on the projects that inspired it, check out mattcandler.io.

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