US maker of networking gear for the smart grid, Silver Spring Networks, is an early winner in the race to build Australia’s next-generation power infrastructure. It scored contracts with electricity distributors CitiPower, Powercor, Jemena and UED for their smart meter rollouts.
Silver Spring provides the hardware, software and services to run smart grids, based on internet protocol, which makes it an upstart in the industry that dates to 1872.
Silver Spring vice president Eric Dresselhuys says the adoption of smart grids based on the internet’s lingua franca opens the doors to innovation in much the same way as digitising the phone networks opened telecommunications to new ideas 20 or more years ago.
“The utilities need an open, standards-based technology like we saw with telecommunications and the internet and every technology transformation,” Dresselhuys says. “We offered an IP-based utility solution that connected everything from the utility to the home.”
Silver Spring’s network interface cards or ‘NICs’ attach to meters such as those from Landis+Gyr and GE to relay data between the power company and the premises according to specifications doled out, in this case, by the Victorian Government in protocol documents. But every type of meter is different and there are regional variations so Silver Spring customises its cards for each customer.
via Silver Spring finds silver lining in the smart grid – Networking – Technology – News – CRN Australia.
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