The Battery Between the Window AC and the Wall Outlet

About 1,000 New York City households took part this year in a free program run by the local startup Every Electric, Ars Technica reports. The proposition is almost too simple: batteries arrive, they plug into a standard wall outlet, and the window air conditioners plug into the batteries instead.

The payoff is that households can keep running the air conditioners as usual through the hottest hours while still earning money through the local demand response program. Peak-hour relief without the sweat.