A smart panel adds a few thousand dollars to an already expensive project, so Matt asks the awkward question straight out. Reynolds Holmes, VP of Product at SPAN, answers with a test: will you add an EV, a battery, a heat pump, or a new AC in the next ten years? If yes, he argues the future proofing pays for itself, and he explains why judging the decision on twelve months of old utility bills is backwards math. Matt also pushes on privacy, local API access, and what happens to your hardware if SPAN ever disappears.

Watch the Undecided with Matt Ferrell episode, Why is Disney World Grinding Glass Into Sand? https://youtu.be/o5AeXRChgVQ?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7uzySCXq8VXhodHB5B5OiQ

Chapters:

• 00:00: Intro
• 02:49: Reynold’s Holmes Interview
• 47:13: Feedback

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evNiSMCU0lg

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

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Undecided with Matt Ferrell: https://www.youtube.com/@undecidedtechnology

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Perovskite solar has promised a revolution for over a decade, so is it finally real? Matt and Sean talk with Joel Jean, co-founder and CEO of Swift Solar, the US startup spun out of MIT and Stanford. Joel explains how stacking a perovskite film on top of silicon lifts a solar cell's efficiency ceiling from 30 percent to about 45 percent. He also breaks down the three "tooth fairies" every new solar technology has to solve: performance, lifetime, and cost. So is perovskite tandem solar finally ready for your roof? Or is 25 year durability still one miracle away?

Chapters:

• 00:00: Intro
• 03:20: Joel Jean Interview
• 41:02: The Super Soaker Mailbag

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtmX0st3uOk

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

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Undecided with Matt Ferrell: https://www.youtube.com/@undecidedtechnology

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Most smart homes hand your house to Big Tech. Home Assistant is proof they don't have to.

Matt and Sean sit down with Paulus Schoutsen, the software engineer who started Home Assistant, the largest open-source smart home platform in the world, now running in over 2 million homes. It runs locally, it keeps your data inside your house, and it doesn't stop working the day a company decides to shut off its servers. We get into why Paulus gave the whole project away to a nonprofit instead of selling it, how the energy dashboard turns your solar and battery into something genuinely useful, and whether a normal person can actually run this or if it's still a power-user thing. So is the open, local smart home finally good enough to replace Alexa and Google? Or is handing your house to Big Tech still the path of least resistance?

Chapters:

• 00:00: Intro
• 01:20: Paulus Schoutsen
• 52:08: Feedback - Updates
• 56:20: Feedback - What Happens with the Chlorine?
• 59:24: Feedback - Climate Change
• 01:01:00: Feedback - Poutine

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPEtYL9F0Vk

Mentioned in this episode:

Home Assistant (free, open source): https://www.home-assistant.io/

Nabu Casa / Home Assistant Cloud (~$80/yr, funds the mission): https://www.nabucasa.com/

Open Home Foundation: https://www.openhomefoundation.org/

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

Audio version of the podcast: https://stilltbd.fm

YouTube version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@stilltbd

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Undecided with Matt Ferrell: https://www.youtube.com/@undecidedtechnology

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The inventor of the Super Soaker, Dr. Lonnie Johnson, joins Matt to talk about his most ambitious project yet: the JTEC, a heat engine with no moving parts that converts low-grade waste heat straight into electricity. They get into how it actually works, why Johnson thinks it could run far more efficiently than what we use today, and the long road from a 2003 idea to the first commercial unit. Plus how a billion-dollar water gun quietly funded a quarter-century of clean-energy research.

Chapters:

• 00:00: Intro
• 05:06: Dr. Lonnie Johnson Interview
• 32:36: Previous Episode Feedback

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhbPajWdgUk

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

Audio version of the podcast: https://stilltbd.fm

YouTube version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@stilltbd

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Matt sat down with Jorge Diaz Schneider, CEO of Ion Storage Systems, to talk about their anode-less, ceramic-based solid-state battery that doesn't swell or need pressure to work. We get into why they're chasing consumer electronics instead of EVs, the new continuous manufacturing line they just fired up, and why so many solid-state startups have over-promised and flamed out. It's an honest look at where this technology really stands in 2026 … and where it's headed.

This presentation is for informational and technical discussion purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or a recommendation regarding any investment, financing or strategic transaction. Statements regarding future product development, commercialization, market opportunities, manufacturing scale-up, customer adoption or future performance are forward-looking, subject to risks and uncertainties, and may differ materially from actual results. The company undertakes no obligation to update such statements except as required by law.

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:24 - Jorge Diaz Schneider Interview

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbnuBbvX5_U

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

Audio version of the podcast: https://stilltbd.fm

YouTube version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@stilltbd

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Matt and Sean talk to Dave Borlace from the YouTube channel, Just Have a Think, to discuss the current state of the renewable energy transition in the UK and the US.

Dave’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JustHaveaThink

Chapters:

• 00:00: Intro
• 01:47: Dave Borlace Interview
• 59:15: Previous Still TBD Episode Feedback
• 01:02:44: Undecided Episode Feedback

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bw2IU73RG4

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

Audio version of the podcast: https://stilltbd.fm

YouTube version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@stilltbd

YouTube membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-aWB84Bupf5hxGqrwYqLA/join

Get in touch: https://stilltbd.fm/contact/

Follow us on:
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Undecided with Matt Ferrell: https://www.youtube.com/@undecidedtechnology

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Matt and Sean talk to Zack Nelson of JerryRiggedEverything about building a new wheelchair manufacturing business, solar DIY, and the history and future of his Youtube channel.

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Intro
• 02:08 - Zach Nelson Interview
• 37:32 - Supercritical CO2 Turbines Discussion

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quA0gBAFEQk

Support the show directly: https://stilltbd.fm/join/

Audio version of the podcast: https://stilltbd.fm

YouTube version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@stilltbd

YouTube membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-aWB84Bupf5hxGqrwYqLA/join

Get in touch: https://stilltbd.fm/contact/

Follow us on:
Mastodon - https://mastodon.social/@mattferrell
Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/mattferrell.bsky.social
Undecided with Matt Ferrell: https://www.youtube.com/@undecidedtechnology

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.