U.S. utilities must correct, update, and integrate customer and infrastructure data before a smart grid can be effectively implemented, according to a benchmark study conducted by Esri. The smart grid, a popular plan to add communication and computer technology to electric networks, promises to make energy cleaner and more reliable.
via AmeriSurv.com – Smart Grid Study Identifies Utility Hurdles.
U.S. utilities must correct, update, and integrate customer and infrastructure data before a smart grid can be effectively implemented, according to a benchmark study conducted by Esri. The smart grid, a popular plan to add communication and computer technology to electric networks, promises to make energy cleaner and more reliable.
via Smart Grid Study Identifies Utility Hurdles | Geospatial Industry News – GIS Lounge.
“Smart Grid” is the name for a vision of what the electrical power grid should look like, where the grid itself uses modern networking technology to allow different parts of the grid to communicate.
By using the technology, theoretically we could reduce our chances of having a blackout, because we’d be managing our energy use more dynamically. If we reduce the chance of a blackout, we also reduce the need to have a standby power plant to meet peak demand, and that helps keep costs down.
ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201P will provide common basis with which electrical energy consumers can describe, manage, and communicate regarding electrical energy consumptions and forecasts. Defined object-oriented information model would enable appliances and control systems to manage electrical loads and generation sources in response to communication with smart electrical grid as well as communicate information about those electrical loads to utilities and electrical service providers.
via ASHRAE, NEMA Partner on Standard to Create Facility Smart Grid Model, American Soci.
The global ‘smart grid’ merges two networks, the power network, which manages power, and the communications network, which encompasses the Internet.
The ‘power network’ describes the electrical generation, transmission, and distribution grid that is considered to be the engineering wonder of the 20th century. The ‘communications network’ is considered the Internet marvel of the 21st century.
A report from Pike Research forecasts that 276 million smart grid communications nodes will be shipped worldwide during the period from 2010 to 2016.
The cleantech market intelligence firm expects that this will represent a total industry investment of $20.3bn during the seven-year forecast period.
This means that annual revenues increase from $1.8bn in 2009 to $3.1bn by 2016, despite rapidly falling average selling prices (ASPs) per node.
via Smart meters to be largest wireless comms app, says analyst – 26/07/2010 – Electronics Weekly.
Despite all of the rhetoric around, and government support for, a U.S. standards-based smart grid, proprietary communications technology will reign supreme for years to come, according to a report out from Pike Research. Pike found that for the portion of the network that will connect a home’s smart meter to the neighborhood network (in jargon terms that’s called the AMI-NAN) proprietary wireless mesh technology will be the leading communication technology until at least 2016. That piece of the network will generate 90 percent of the market for smart grid communication nodes by 2012, so the proprietary technology will dominate a big chunk of the available revenues, too.
BT is launching a bid to take part in the multi-billion pound rollout of smart energy meters across the country.
BT will today announce a partnership with broadcasting firm Arqiva and Detica, a branch of BAE Systems. The three companies hope to persuade the government that they should build and operate a new nationwide long-range radio network to communicate with the intelligent meters that are being installed in Britain’s 28 million homes and small businesses over the next decade.
via BT in smart energy meter plan | Business | guardian.co.uk.
The Bluetooth 4.0 low-power wireless networking specification has been approved, and the technology will start appearing in devices such as smart meters and laptops later this year, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group said on Wednesday.
Chips with the Bluetooth 4.0 standard have gone through a rigorous testing process, and the technology is being certified and licensed for use in chips and devices, said Mike Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, the standards-setting organization. Companies can now start designing and manufacturing devices using the standard.
via MacVideo – Editing – News – Bluetooth 4.0 approved, will reach devices this year.
The battle over subscribers and market share between telecom giants AT&T and Verizon has now solidly moved onto the smart grid. The latest development from AT&T, which has been the most aggressive about trying to rent space on its wireless network to utilities for smart grid projects, comes this morning in the form of a partnership with smart grid firm Current Group.
Google (GOOG) has long been transfixed with TV white space, those slivers of unused spectrum that were abandoned when the nation switched from analog to digital TV broadcasts. Along with Microsoft (MSFT) and Motorola (MOT), Google has lobbied the FCC for years to turn the spectrum over to the public, arguing that it would be the perfect vehicle to bring speedy wireless broadband services into every U.S. home. In an odd twist to Google’s original vision, the company has partnered with Spectrum Bridge and the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperation and Telecommunications utility to deliver the smart grid wirelessly over TV white space in California’s High Sierras.
via Your TV’s White Space: Where Google and the Smart Grid Meet | BNET Energy Blog | BNET.
The smart grid for Plumas-Sierra County, Calif., is now operating via the television broadcasting system’s “white space,” software and service supplier Spectrum Bridge announced Wednesday.
The TV white space spectrum is the portion of unused broadcast TV channels that became available with the national switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting.
via Google-backed smart grid now on TV ‘white space’ | Green Tech – CNET News.
Verizon and the Utilities Telecommunications Council energy trade group in September will issue a report on a study they’re doing to determine the communications and information technology needed to support the nation’s utilities.
How energy data flows — via broadband, telecommunications and the public Internet; or via narrowband and private networks owned and operated by the utilities — is a point of some contention between carriers and utilities.
via Verizon, UTC do smart grid homework — Washington Technology.
NASA experts are warning of an increase in solar activity. The storms could lead to a greater number of disturbances on Earth because of the explosion of wireless and satellite technology.
Wireless cell phones, satellite-based navigation systems and smart electric meters could all be interrupted by extreme radioactive activity from sun storms.
via Prepping for Storms — on the Sun | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Last Wednesday we had the privilege of hosting an Energy Central webinar titled ‘Why Cellular Will Win the Smart Grid War’. This topic drew nearly 800 registrants, which is a clear testament of just how important the argument over which network model is best suited for the smart grid truly is. Participants and listeners consisted of utility reps from all over the world, tech companies, regulators and government officials, and even SmartSynch competitors.
via Why Cellular Will Win The Smart Grid War: An Energy Central / SmartSynch Webinar « SmartSynch.
National Technical Systems (NTS) Completes ZigBee Smart Energy Certification Testing for SimpleHomeNet Appliance
Rapidly Expanding Smart Grid Compliance Testing Market Is Key NTS Initiative
National Technical Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTSC) (NTS), a leading provider of engineering services, announced today that it recently completed ZigBee Smart Energy certification testing for a feature-rich, wireless electric load controller manufactured by SimpleHomeNet, a division of Compacta International. The tests were run at the NTS laboratory in Culver City, CA. Following completion of the certification tests, the ZigBee Alliance reviewed the test results submitted by NTS and the application submitted by SimpleHomeNet and certified the load controller.
NTS is the market leader in ZigBee smart energy certification testing and one of only three companies worldwidewith rights designated by the ZigBee Alliance to test wireless products for ZigBee Smart Energy certification. Completion of the certification tests for SimpleHomeNet is another example of NTS' expanding leadership in the burgeoning testing market for ZigBee Smart Energy.
ZigBee Smart Energy is the market leading wireless home area network (HAN) standard with more than 40 million smart meters being installed around the world. Last year, it was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN devices. ZigBee has also been adopted by over 350 global manufacturers andthere is a large total potential market of 1.5 billion devices that could be installed in homes worldwide for energy management and demand response, according to a recently published report by ON World.
Smart energy device testing is a rapidly expanding global industry and a growing market for NTS,said NTS Chief Executive Office William McGinnis. The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated $30 billion as part of a national energy initiative backed by national utility companies, which is expected toencourage the development and certification of a broad range of smart energy products McGinnis said.
ZigBee Smart Energy certification demonstrates that a wireless product such as a load controller, or other wireless device, is compliant with the ZigBee Smart Energy standard that was created by energy experts and ZigBee Alliance members. ZigBee members include Ember, Freescale, Texas Instruments, Landis & Gyr, Itron, Cisco, General Electric, Honeywell, Intel, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Philips, Samsung Electronics, Siemens, Sony and many other leading corporations around the world.
“This is already a large, rapidly growing market and an expanding list of companies is committed to the smart energy path, which we believe is a good opportunity for us,” McGinnis added. “We not only provide the test services, but we also design the test tools to simulate the functions of the appliances that allow our clients to do self-testing. We have a full solution for our clients with software testing and validation and multiple engineering services.”
Remotely controlled, wireless appliances such as thermostats, meters, load controllers, pool pumps, water heaters and display units designed for homeowners as part of a HAN are key components of a smart grid created to reduce energy usage, increase reliability and cut costs for consumers, said NTS Chief Technology Officer Osman Sakr. The NTS testing demonstrates that the appliances work together properly and can accurately show how much energy is being used, thereby allowing a consumer to manage energy efficiently.
Al Choperena, President and CEO of Compacta International, said the NTS testing and ZigBee Smart Energy certification of its load controller “is a key milestone in our ZigBee product roadmap and signals our strong commitment to the future of the smart grid. To date, our certification efforts have been on track thanks to our ongoing partnership with NTS.”
via NTS – National Technical Systems, Inc. – Investors – Financial News.
Texas-New Mexico Power selected SmartSynch’s Residential Smart Meter solution for a 231,000 unit point-to-point deployment to residential customers throughout the utility’s Texas market.
This will mark the first mass residential deployment of smart metering solutions that use a public wireless network as the communications backbone.
Such networks allow the utility to bring efficient, secure smart grid technology to homes across multiple geographies — from dense, urban cities to remote, rural communities — all at lower cost and with greater flexibility to incorporate new technology in the future.
Cisco announced the first offerings in its new Connected Grid portfolio of smart grid communications solutions that will help utilities more reliably and efficiently deliver electric power from generation facilities to businesses and homes, resulting in better energy management, as well as economic and environmental benefits. The purpose-built, ruggedized routers and switches form a resilient, manageable and highly secure network solution for the substation to integrate Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications with the power grid for intelligent grid monitoring and control. These technologies build on existing Cisco Smart Grid offerings and represent the latest in the company’s efforts to deliver end-to-end solutions that help utility customers address grid reliability, industry compliance and operational expenses.
One of the first trials by a utility to use public wireless networks for the smart grid has now turned into a full-fledged deployment. Texas utility Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) plans to expand its smart grid project, which uses SmartSynch and AT&T to manage 10,000 smart meters in Texas homes, to 231,000 meters over the next five years.
Arcadian Networks, the private wireless communications provider, today announced a new smart grid communications gateway that advances AMI connectivity to its AE11g platform. The FCC-certified AE11gOW device, the latest product in its SMART Grid Gateway® series, takes interoperability to a new level by integrating the Itron OpenWay® cell relay with the Arcadian Networks’ 700 MHz platform. The two companies are currently working toward commercial authorization of the solution.
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