Smart Grid Blog

f you attend enough cleantech events or are pitched by enough startups, you start to see the same few PowerPoint slides over and over again. Here is a collection of the best or at least the most notorious and historically significant slides in our industry.

After publishing this list to an overwhelming response, we heard from the original architects of some of these iconic greentech slides and we made sure to give them their overdue credit.  We also added a few additional slides that we left out during the first, second and third go-round.

via Update! 15 PowerPoint Slides That Shook the Earth | Sources Energy.

TXU Energy plans to distribute 100,000 smart energy efficiency devices like high-tech thermostats in homes and businesses in Texas by 2012.

To date, TXU has installed roughly 20,000 smart energy efficiency devices like the TXU Energy iThermostat, the first and only Web-enabled programmable thermostat in the Texas retail electric market.

TXU said its online Energy iThermostat will allow power consumers to save $360 over two years by using advanced technologies.

via 100,000 ‘smart’ energy devices to be distributed in Texas.

TXU Energy has announced a new multi-year purchase, installation, and service agreement with Comverge, Inc. The exclusive agreement enables TXU Energy to expand, with plans to deploy 100,000 smart energy efficiency devices such as TXU Energy iThermostats and TXU Energy PowerMonitors in homes and businesses throughout Texas by 2012.

via TXU Signs Agreement with Comverge.

Caelera  offers the RF3858 front end module (FEM) introduced by RF Micro Devices, Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency components and compound semiconductor technologies.

The RF3858 front end modules support multiple Tx/Rx applications in the 900 MHz ISM band, including Smart Energy/ Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).

via RFMD Introduces RF3858 Front End Module for Advanced Metering Infrastructure.

Enphase Energy Inc., a provider of solar micro-inverter systems, has introduced the Environ Smart Thermostat, which the company says is the world’s first solar-integrated smart energy device.

Environ is a thermostat that wirelessly connects to the Enphase micro-inverter system, allowing owners to simultaneously manage their solar installations along with their heating and cooling systems in a single We-based platform.

via Solar Industry:.

Based on strong customer demand, TXU Energy said it is targeting installation of 100,000 smart energy efficiency devices in homes and businesses throughout Texas by 2012.

In a release, the company said it established the new target as it announced a new multi-year purchase, installation and service agreement with Comverge, Inc.

via TXU Energy Sets Target to Install 100K Smart Energy Efficiency Devices in Texas | TradingMarkets.com.

Now is a critical time for smart energy meters. The federal government has put up funding for projects around the country to install smart meters. Homeowner energy customers have little say in whether or not their utility provider will invest the customer’s money in the new meters. Local utility regulatory boards will make the final decision. But whether or not a majority of homeowners will embrace and make use of the new meters is yet to be seen.

via Smart Meter Fate Undecided | Epoch Times.

Adding new electric generating capacity is expensive. Data from New Mexico’s largest electric utility, PNM, shows that it costs $150 per megawatt hour to add new natural gas power generating capacity, $140 to add coal power, $130 for nuclear, and $85 for wind. New generation is so costly that whenever new capacity is added electric rates go up.

By contrast, installation of energy efficiency measures costs about $20 per megawatt- hour saved, according to PNM. In other words, electric consumers save somewhere between 75 percent and 87 percent when we invest in efficiency rather than building new electric plants. Efficiency also largely eliminates the pollution, health, noise and landscape impacts that come with new power generation.

via Waste not, want not: Smart energy pricing is key | NMPolitics.net – Get the real story.

As you know my last article on energy targeted the upcoming increase in sunspots widely predicted for 2012 and the havoc it could reap on our nation. Today I offer a solution that may or may not be too late to initiate, one that might actually remedy the situation.

Smart Energy is the way of the future and it is the only way for this country to continue to grow and compete.

via Can Smart Energy Save the U.S. From a System Wide Collapse in 2012? – Associated Content – associatedcontent.com.

Petra Solar, the clean tech company that links Smart Grid and solar and that pioneered grid-tied, pole-mounted, distributed solar generation systems for utilities, and Flextronics (NASDAQ: FLEX), a leading global electronics manufacturing services provider, today announced Flextronics will build Petra Solar’s SunWave™ smart energy modules for deployment around the world.

via StreetInsider.com – Petra Solar Enters into Supplier Agreement with Flextronics to Facilitate Expansion into Global Markets.

The switch from regular energy meters to Smart energy meters in Europe is to a large extent driven by the governmental rules and regulations. The first few countries that initiated the implementation of these meters on a large scale in Europe were Sweden, Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Italy and Spain, followed by the UK and Finland. Furthermore, the nationwide projects led by publicly owned energy companies are underway in Portugal and Malta. Moreover, Sweden has achieved 100 percent penetration in the implementation of Smart energy meters.

via Aarkstore Enterprise –Smart Energy Meters Market in Europe 2009-2013.

Outgoing Colorado governor Bill Ritter has spent his last four years in office promoting renewable energy as both a philosophy and as an economic strategy. Ritter, who had decided not to run for re-election, has signed nearly 60 pieces of clean-energy legislation since taking office in 2007. Some of the laws include offering incentives and loans to homeowners to adopt solar, increasing the percentage of power utilities must from renewables by 2020 from 20 percent to 30 percent and facilitating renewable energy financing by folding it into a home mortgage.

via Colorado Leans Heavily on Smart Energy.

NSTAR’s innovative new Smart Energy Pilot, a Smart Grid program, puts the control in your hands. We provide you with leading-edge home energy management tools that allow you to see in real-time how you're consuming energy. These tools will help you make informed decisions that can add up to real savings.

Participation will also help NSTAR to better understand how customers consume energy now and for years to come.

via NSTAR: Smart Energy Pilot.

Engineering and testing services company National Testing Systems (NTS) announced that it has completed Zigbee Smart Energy certification testing for a versatile wireless electric load controller made by SimpleHomeNet, which makes energy management and home and building automation devices. But the big news is that smart energy device testing appears to be taking off as a hot growth segment of the flourishing Smart Grid technologies market. The announcement also signals continuing widespread acceptance of Zigbee as the leading wirelessly networked sensing and controlling standard for consumer electronics, home area networks, commercial and industrial applications. NTS CEO William McGinnis said the explosive growth of smart energy device testing is a global phenomenon and that the market can only keep growing as more companies dive into smart energy technologies.

Quick Take: The Smart Grid initiative has given birth to an incredible array of new markets and opportunities based on innovative technologies we probably wouldn’t have imagined at the outset. That point also stresses how extremely important interoperability standards are to a functional, reliable Smart Grid.

via Smart Grid: Smart Energy Device Testing Taking Off: Explosive Global Growth Predicted.

Life in a glass house isn’t easy. Granted, a glass façade looks good on any building but it becomes a hassle when you have to deal with adjustable blinds in hot weather and with heating when it’s cold.

A Dutch company called Peer+ has developed a new solution and it’s called Smart Energy Glass. According to the company web site this new innovation helps one regulate the light intensity in a glass building while maintaining a low energy demand

via Smart Energy Glass – Generates Electricity Using Blocked Sunlight.

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.

We’d all rather make environmentally sensitive choices about our energy use, especially given the financial incentives for energy efficiency. And with large-scale changes like Nova Scotia’s plan to increase its provincial renewable energy targets from 25 to 40 per, there’s strong evidence that these changes can be made on a considerable scale.

via Keeping “Green” Green | Centre Flow.

Energy efficiency obtained through the implementation of active energy monitoring and the pervasive use of a Smart Grid will save on costs and help the environment.

The retail sector, as well as other business enterprises and entities, are implementing smart grid projects in an effort to save on energy costs, move towards energy independence and become a positive influence on the environment by reducing harmful greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.

via Smart Grid Projects for Smart Energy Management.

If a local nanotechnology company’s solar-cell product generates a spark, homeowners could find themselves plugging into a “smart” energy grid through a partnership with developers and utility companies.

The idea from FiberCell Inc., a spinoff of Wake Forest University’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, seems to be a no-brainer on the surface, or in this case, a rooftop.

via Capturing Light.

We do not have a problem of knowing what to do to make buildings participants in smart energy. We do not have a problem that the technology is too expensive. We do have a problem that it takes too long to integrate systems. High integration costs lead to vendor lock-in. High integration costs lead to long sales cycles for replacements and upgrades. High integration costs will continue to slow the adoption of distributed energy resources. High integration costs lead to islands of automation, unable to participate in smart energy and demand response.

via AutomatedBuildings.com Column – The Integration Barrier to Smart Energy.