Homeowners desperately need new methods to conserve energy. Utilities desperately need a system with which they can improve service and manage peak demand problems.
Enter the smart grid.
New smart grid technologies provide two-way communications between homeowners’ premises and utility companies’ back-end IT infrastructure. Smart grid initiatives are gaining traction across the country, spurred by growing energy demand, increasing costs and climate change. At the same time, utilities urgently need to manage peak vs. off-peak energy demand to reduce the need for new power plants. To this end, smart grid technologies are, for the first time, enabling homeowners and utility companies to work together to reduce household energy consumption, save money and better manage the grid.
Here’s how: Utilities are deploying advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems that combine home area networks (HANs) and neighborhood area networks (NANs) as part of larger smart grid initiatives. AMI extends current smart meter technology by allowing utilities to send and receive information and commands to/from the home for multiple purposes, including time-of-use pricing information, demand response actions or remote service disconnects. AMI networks for demand response include HANs that connect communicating thermostats, load switches, lighting systems and in-home displays to the meters (or separate gateway). NANs aggregate a mesh configuration of up to thousands of household meters for backhaul to the utility’s headquarters.
via ZigBee Smart Energy Technology Spurs Smart Grid Energy Conservation.
