For many Europeans, this summer’s heat was a powerful reminder of the damage climate change has wrought — from illness and devastated crops to high energy bills. For Andrew Austin, a 34-year-old homeowner in Shropshire, England, the stubbornly high temperatures were a chance to make some money. Power demand was rising as London crossed 34 degrees Celsius on June 24.
Energy prices spiked as the sun set and solar panels across the U.K. stopped generating electricity. That’s when Austin knew he could take advantage of his 200 kilowatt-hour home battery, which he had charged up using cheap power from the grid during the daytime. He sold the power back to the grid for £60 ($82) from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
In just a few hours, Austin had earned about as much as an apartment dweller would typically pay for electricity every month. All this happened without Austin having to press a single button. He has set up a computer to conduct this energy trading while he goes about his life as normal.
The computer downloads electricity prices for every 30-minute period from his utility Octopus Energy, which publishes them at 4 p.m. each day. That allows him to know when electricity will be cheap to charge his batteries, and when power prices on the grid are high, the computer sells it back to the grid.
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