American Electric Power (AEP) says it is bringing its gridSMART program to the territory of its Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (PSO) subsidiary. The pilot project will extend to more than 13,000 customers in Owasso, Okla.
PSO says the project includes the installation of smart meters, a two-way wireless communications network and automated power-restoration equipment on its distribution system.
via Renew Grid: Content / Projects & Contracts / AEP Subsidiary Set To Deploy Smart Grid In Oklahoma.
CenterPoint Energy has only good things to say about power line networking, except when it comes to the cost.
The energy delivery company conducted a trial earlier in the decade with power line networking in approximately 10,000 homes, said Ken Murphy, Director of Intelligent Grid Deployment at the company, during a talk at NI Week, a conference sponsored by test and measurement specialist National Instruments taking place in Austin. Because of the high bandwidth that power line offers, the company also gave computers to consumers who were participating in the test.
via Why Pick WiMax, Mesh Over Power Line? Cost. : Greentech Media.
Freescale Semiconductor (News – Alert), a provider of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets and the Indesit Company, a manufacturer and distributor of major domestic appliances based in Europe have jointly announced that both the companies recently showcased at the Freescale Technology Forum held in Orlando, a Smart Washer that can regulate its own energy use based on cost and availability which will be helpful for the customers in creating their own smart products.
via Freescale & Indesit Introduce Wireless Smart Washer At Freescale’s Technology Forum.
Over the last 10 years 802.11 technology has made remarkable strides — getting faster, stronger and more scalable. But one problem still haunts Wi-Fi: reliability.
… RF interference can be generated by almost any device that emits an electro-magnetic signal — from cordless phones to Bluetooth headsets, microwave ovens and even smart meters. But what most companies don’t realize is that the single biggest source of Wi-Fi interference is their own Wi-Fi network.
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.
AT&T has signed a new agreement to combine Petra Solar’s smart grid and renewable energy technology with the telecom’s wireless network in order to offer utilities improved power quality and grid reliability. Petra Solar’s solution enables utility companies to simultaneously address Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements and invest in a smart grid technology.
Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. went back to the drawing board on smart meters and recently submitted a revised proposal to the Maryland Public Service Commission. The basics of what BGE wants to do haven’t changed much, but now it’s up to the PSC to allow the program to move forward — or put the long-term interests of customers at risk.
We’ve said it before and now we’ll say it again: Maryland needs to get on board the smart grid movement to ensure affordable and reliable energy service in the future. BGE wants to install smart meters in every business and home to keep track of energy use and wirelessly transmit that information to a central office. With that kind of monitoring available, customers could cut their use on peak summer days and save on the order of $100 annually.
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.
You would think that any startup that pulls in funding from the likes of industry heavy weights Verizon, Qualcomm and GE, would have a long track record. But smart grid startup Consert just jumped onto my radar with its announcement this morning that it’s raised $17.7 million from GE Energy Financial Services, Verizon Ventures, Qualcomm and Constellation Energy.
Consert who? The most important thing to know about Consert is that it plans to largely utilize Verizon’s 3G wireless network as a backbone to offer demand management, smart meter and a home area network services.
via Verizon, Qualcomm, GE Back Quiet Smart Grid Firm Consert | Clean Energy Sector.
America's first wireless Smart Grid network has been deployed in Plumas-Sierra county, California, using TV White Space spectrum as a means to deliver connectivity.
Using Google’s PowerMeter technology, service provider Spectrum Bridge has joined forces with Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative and Telecommunications (PSREC) to test the new network’s capabilities in delivering real-time broadband connectivity and data flow for smart grid management.
via Wireless Smart Grid Technology Tested by Google and Spectrum Bridge | Harry Tournemille.
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.
Utility companies seeking sophisticated communications platforms to support access to energy usage data and advance their smart grid projects at the Smart Grid Technology Conference & Expo 2010 this week should look to the wireless company with the largest, most reliable 3G data network.
“The utilities industry is faced with many challenges as it moves towards the future of the smart grid, so careful consideration must be paid when selecting a wireless provider to support everything from smart meters to field force automation solutions,” said Mike Wojcik, Enterprise Data Sales Director for Verizon Wireless. “Verizon Wireless offers the reliability, interoperability and longevity required to keep up with the demands of this evolving technology, equipping our utilities customers with the tools needed to support today's critical smart grid projects.”
via PR-CANADA.net – Verizon Wireless Offers Smart Solutions to Support Utilities’ Smart Grid Projects.
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.
In 2001, MIT spinout and software firm Ember received $3 million in seed funding from Polaris Venture Partners with DFJ New England, Stata Venture Partners, and Bob Metcalfe, the Ethernet guru.
Ten years and about $89 million later, Ember, now a hardware company, has found a growing market for their ZigBee wireless protocol chips: the smart grid.
via Ten Million Zigbee Smart Grid ICs Shipped by Ember : Greentech Media.
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.
In what will likely be one of many small battles utility companies around the nation see as they roll out smart meters in coming years, a town in Marin County, California has asked that state’s public utilities commission to put a halt to plans by local utility Pacific Gas & Electric to install smart meters in residents’ homes. Fairfax, according to TreeHugger, believes the meters may be a health risk to locals because of the fact they are wireless.
via Smart Meters Get Thumbs Down In Small California Town | EarthTechling.
There are several smart grid initiatives including home-to-grid (H2G), building-to-grid (B2G) and industry-to-grid (I2G). These all require varying levels of connectivity, either through new protocols or by leveraging legacy protocols and products.
1. Wireless communications with smart meters. Several phases lead to the new world of the smart grid. We are in one of the earliest phases, an instrumentation phase adding the ability to assess power use in real time. The majority of stimulus money earmarked for the smart grid is being used to enhance power monitoring with smart meters that can be read remotely and in real time. This requires enhanced communications.
Accent, a world leader in semiconductor integration of communications and metering technologies, launches ASMgridTM, the industry first Clean Tech System-on-Chip (SoC) platform. ASMgrid incorporates unprecedented wireless and communications technology breadth for single chip solutions. Dedicated to energy savings and optimization, the platform enables a new class of performance for emerging Smart Meter and Home Area Network (HAN) end-products that will dramatically help decrease C02 emissions.
via Accent Announces Company Strategic Focus to Speed Adoption of Smart Grid Devices.
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