Smart Grid Blog

QNX Software Systems, a Harman International (NYSE:HAR) company, today unveiled its new smart energy reference, a pre-integrated software stack that makes it easier to design, deploy, and extend smart-home energy management systems.

The smart energy reference provides out-of-the-box support for Zigbee sensors, Insteon home area networks (HANs), streaming IP video cameras for security monitoring, an application for calculating costs of energy consumption, and Internet connectivity for retrieving weather information and performing remote control and diagnostics. Other features include zone temperature controls, individual and zone light controls, and appliance monitoring and control.

via QNX Unveils Reference Design for Smart-Home Energy Management Systems.

A ’smart’ energy meter will allow users to turn off their heating or oven by sending a text message.

PassivEnergy, the British company behind the invention, says up to 20 per cent of annual energy bills could be saved.

via ‘Smart’ energy meter turns off heating by text message, saving ‘up to 20 per cent of energy bills’ | Mail Online.

Imagine controlling your household appliances via your iPhone. Start-up companies are offering new software to enable households to boost their energy efficiency. It’s a potential mass market which is also awakening the interest of giants like Microsoft and Google.

via Green Technology: Smartphone Apps to Help Households Save Energy – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

SilverPAC, a leading provider of innovative home entertainment solutions, announces the preview of their new SilverSTAT 7, advanced seven-day programmable thermostat. The company partnered with Windows Embedded to develop a truly innovative device that features a Smart Energy In-Home Display (IHD) to help monitor utility usage and expenses in style. SilverPAC has long been dedicated to the future of consumer electronics with its visionary universal remote controls and advanced digital picture frame. It continues to extend its reach by introducing the breakthrough SilverSTAT 7 with its commitment to smarter homes and smarter living.

via The Future of Smart Energy Management Arrives with SilverSTAT 7 by SilverPAC, Fusing Together HVAC Control, Efficiency and Style.

A recent study by Intamac shows that consumers in Britain and North America are eager to have better remote control over their homes. Two-thirds of utility customers polled say they are willing to pay for remote home energy monitoring. But half of the respondents wanted the fee included in their monthly power bills and not sent as a separate bill.

via Consumers Bullish on Smart Energy Technology.

Over its 3-year lifetime, Cambridge, UK-based home energy management startup AlertMe has managed to develop a slick hardware design and become one of the first startups to sell its gear to customers. In the past several months since the company decided to focus predominantly on utility sales, however, it had not announced any utility deals. But on Monday morning AlertMe plans to announce a baby step in that direction — it has scored a partnership with a division of one of the largest residential suppliers of gas and electricity in the UK, British Gas, to do a trial using AlertMe’s energy management kit.

AlertMe hinted at the deal last month and told us it had been “working closely with some of the largest UK utilities and service providers, which we expect to convert to major strategic relationships in the near term.” The trial with British Gas will first focus specifically on a heating system that can be controlled remotely, enabling home owners to turn on/off, up/down their home heat from any broadband-connected device, like a PC or cell phone. British Gas is offering AlertMe gear as a voluntary option, and customers will actually have to pay for the upfront hardware as well as a recurring subscription service fee. The trial is supposed to start by the end of 2009.

AlertMe wouldn’t expand on the size of the trial or pricing of the gear and service. But when it comes to energy management products these days, utility trials are a dime a dozen. A lot of utilities are in the process of “sampling” — doing several small pilot deals with a lot of experimental companies. As a result, venture capitalists have been struggling to see past the initial lure of the smart home trial to identify the true leaders in the space.

via AlertMe Inks First Utility Trial With British Gas.