An easy-to-use electric grid monitoring system is preventing fires and minimising outages

According to the World Resources Institute, fires are becoming more widespread, burning almost double the tree cover today than they did 20 years ago. Climate change is one of the major drivers of increasing fire activity, but managing the risk of forest fires is going to involve both emissions reductions and better fire mitigation.

Many fires are sparked by malfunctioning or damaged utility equipment. Startup Gridware is working to change this with a technology platform that provides real-time monitoring of assets such as wires, poles, and transformers. The equipment uses solar power to stay online even during power outages.

Gridware’s devices attach to electrical utility boxes so that utility companies can tell what condition their equipment is in and use this information to prevent fires from starting. The company’s plug-and-play system allows utilities to rapidly identify and locate faults – including those caused by grid equipment failure, downed lines, or vegetation contact – which helps to reduce outages and wildfire threats in real time.