WSNBuzz
Fresh updates on wireless standards, smart grid, and green technologies
May 18, 2012 at 7:25 am · Filed under Uncategorized
There’s a key barrier between the technology that runs modern HVAC, lighting and other energy-intensive building systems today, and the quest to make it run more efficiently: a lack of energy data. Beyond the meters that record the entire building energy use, and perhaps some sub-metering for individual offices or building systems, there just isn’t that much real-time, granular energy measuring going on.
Panoramic Power wants to change that, one self-powered, circuit power sensor at a time. The Israel-based startup says its patent-pending technology allows each sensor to harvest enough energy from the circuit it measures to connect it and its fellow devices in a wireless mesh network, sending energy data every 10 seconds or so.
Those sensors create a wireless mesh network that connects to Panoramic’s P3E cloud-based analytics platform, which aligns the incoming flood of energy readings with the building systems using the energy, Safi Oranski, vice president of business development, said in an interview last week.
That’s useful to detect and alert existing building management systems (BMS) to anomalies in the way the system is working, to combat the common “drift” in well-tuned buildings back to inefficient status over time, he said. Or, in some cases, it can take the place of a BMS entirely, at a cost that’s five to ten times cheaper, he added.
Either way, the combination of real-time data and analysis can drive a 20-percent to 30-percent reduction in energy usage in most cases, with return on investment coming as early as a few days to six months to a year, he said. Panoramic has about 20 to 30 customer locations now using the technology, Oranski added.
While he wouldn’t name customers, they include retail settings such as an Israeli pharmacy chain and a California auto retailer, as well as hospitals, he said. The startup has raised $6 million so far from investors including Israel Cleantech Ventures and Greylock Partners, as well as Qualcomm Ventures via the wireless technology leader’s QPrize contest.
More here.
May 14, 2012 at 11:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Looks like Echelon is going to be building cheaper smart meters, as well as supplying technology to regional partners, to take on emerging markets for smart meters and the smart grid. On Wednesday, the San Jose, Calif.-based company announced it was launching a new, cheaper smart meter, aimed squarely at developing economies in Asia, India, Latin America and the Middle East.
The new meter not only comes at a lower price point, it also can be deployed without the “smarts” of the meter included, and have those added later via a hot-swappable module installation. The new MTR 0600 meter will be available in the second half of 2012, the company announced. While Echelon hasn’t said how much cheaper its MTR 0600 meter will be, compared to its existing MTR 1000 meter for residential deployments, it’s clearly aimed at competing with regional metering companies with low-price devices.
Echelon also reported first quarter 2012 revenues of $40.3 million, up 42 percent from the same quarter last year — a positive bit of news during a time when smart meter makers are struggling with slowing sales. Even so, CEO Ron Sege said in a conference call that Echelon wasn’t sure if its existing pipeline of orders would convert to revenues through the rest of 2012 at the rate the company hoped for, given that “utility awards in our target markets are being delayed due to the macro environment.”
As a result, the company is planning to reduce its workforce by up to 10 percent, with a related charge of $1.2 million to $1.7 million in the second quarter of this year, with a goal of cutting operating expenses by 5 percent to 10 percent over the next 12 months or so, the company announced. Echelon stock had slipped to just under $4 per share in midday Thursday trading, down about 8 percent from the previous day’s close, and in keeping with the company’s slow but steady decline from the $10-and-up price its shares commanded in the spring of 2011.
More here.
May 14, 2012 at 11:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
We touched a nerve on Monday when I asked a basic question in a column titled “Is `Saving Money’ the Right Smart Grid Pitch?”
The occasion was a couple newspaper articles on Commonwealth Edison’s grid modernization work in Chicagoland.
I based my premise, essentially, on the lead sentence of one article from the Joliet Herald-News, which said: “If all goes as planned, ComEd customers should see their bills shrinking and their lights staying on more often over the next decade.”
So my question was simple and apt: “shrinking bills” have been touted since Adam and Eve and have yet to occur in this solar system, while storm-related outages in the Northeast last fall led to resignations, investigations and accusations—not “lights staying on more often.” (Understood, many implementation of systems designed to give consumers energy management options and quicker outage restoration remain in pilot stage. My thesis was more around touting expected benefits.)
Has hype outrun reality? Have smart grid projects over-promised and under-delivered? Is the power industry putting its credibility at stake with ratepayers and regulators?
Our readers had some comments on this topic. They were not directly related to my question but that’s the beauty of a diverse readership—you get new, related lines of thinking.
“Utilities make improvements all the time to their generation and distribution systems,” observed Milton Scritsmier of Boulder, Colo. “Some work, some don’t, but eventually the industry figures out what does. But this is all done behind the scenes. For example, how many people know about the increase in energy efficiency at nuclear plants over the past decades? Outside the industry, who really cares? So I don’t see why smart grid should be any different. Rather than treating it as one big fully birthed concept, it might be better to move gradually with less fanfare. It’s only the pressure of generating Green PR that causes this massive confusion at the consumer level.”
More here.
May 14, 2012 at 10:59 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Whenever we post an article related to smart meters, we inevitably get some angry comments from people who say they overcharge and are health hazards.
Apparently, there’s fairly widespread concern about this and it’s actually slowing down the effort among utilities to upgrade their networks.
Smart meters are the foundation for smart grid. Household (and business) energy use data streams in real time to local utilities, providing the information (and feedback) useful to planning and controlling energy use. Utilities can identify outages faster, give customers more choices in rates and even restore electricity through “self-healing” features. Since meters are read automatically, fewer trucks are needed.
Utilities have invested $15.4 billion to install them and another $13.4 billion will be spent through 2015, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. About 27 million are installed as of September 2011 and 65 million – half of US homes – will have one by 2015, according to the Institute for Electric Efficiency.
In response to resistance by some customers, states like California, Maine and Vermont, allow people to opt-out. But they charge them for that. As you can imagine, most people are even angrier with that solution. Several utilities are holding off from installing them for now.
Utilities says the fees pay for sending human meter readers each month that record usage by hand.
50 local governments in California oppose smart meters, according to the group, Stop Smart Meters. Connecticut has postponed its decision on whether to participate in Northeast Utilities proposal to install 1.2 million smart meters.
More here.
May 10, 2012 at 7:32 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Take a look behind the bright lights at this week’s Lightfair 2012 lighting industry trade show in Las Vegas, and you’ll find a bewildering array of partnerships and technology integrations going into each display.
Take, for instance, lighting giant Philips and its OccuSwitch wireless wall switches and sensors, now being displayed at the table of wireless lighting startup Daintree Networks. The two companies have entered into a supply agreement, in which Daintree is providing its ZigBee-based network hardware and software for Philips to turn into real-world smart buildings, CEO Danny Yu said.
This is the second big partnership announcement for the Mountain View, Calif.-backed startup so far this year, which has raised about $12 million in venture capital and debt financing. Last month, Sylvania Lighting Services, the installation arm of lighting giant Osram Sylvania, said it was designing Daintree technology into its projects, starting with one 320,000-square-foot customer — a figure that would bring Daintree’s estimated square footage of deployments up to nearly 4 million.
Yu wouldn’t say which products Philips was rolling out with Daintree inside, or on what schedule or volume. Nor would he specify how Daintree’s system, which adds ZigBee-enabled, smart wireless control nodes to building light fixtures, would apply to linking up Philips’ easy-install, battery-powered wall switches and sensors.
But clearly, low-power wireless devices like these are much more reliable when they’re backed up by a ubiquitous building-wide network, such as the one that comes from putting a wireless node at every light in the room.
Fewer than one in ten buildings today actively manage their lighting, but lights take up a quarter to a third of a typical commercial building’s energy bill. The barrier has been the high cost of installing wired networks to get lights to do simple things like shut off when people leave the room, or on a schedule.
More here.
May 7, 2012 at 9:09 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The G3-PLC Alliance announced that eleven new members have joined the international alliance whose goal is to promote the G3-PLC communications standard. These companies are all stakeholders in the smart grid ecosystem, including utilities, equipment manufacturers, R&D and test labs, and semiconductor makers. The approval of the G3-PLC standard by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and the broad based Alliance membership, now give utilities confidence that the interoperable G3-PLC-based equipment and tools will be available for their projects.
The ITU recently approved the G3-PLC protocol as a low-frequency, OFDM-based narrowband powerline communications (NB-PLC) standard. The G3-PLC is the first NB-PLC standard that supports the IPv6 Internet protocol, allowing new internet-based energy management systems for use by utilities and grid operators to better manage their assets on the grid. Utility companies can now plan their deployments utilizing G3-PLC technology to achieve cost-effective smart grid systems that meet customer’s needs.
New members include MRSK, large Russian electricity distribution, construction and research company, and Atos Worldgrid, an energy systems integrator. Also joining are three equipment manufacturers, Elster offering measurement-and-control and systems integration, Iskreameco delivering energy measurement systems, and devolo AG providing communications solutions to the Smart Grid. Also, four semiconductor companies, Accent Semiconductor, Enverve, Freescale, NXP and Renesas join LAN testing laboratory as new members.
More here.
May 4, 2012 at 3:39 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
May 4, 2012 – The G3-PLC Alliance announced today that eleven new members have joined the international alliance whose goal is to promote the G3-PLC communications standard. These companies are all key stakeholders in the smart grid ecosystem, including utilities, equipment manufacturers, test labs and semiconductor makers. The approval of the G3-PLC standard by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and the broad based Alliance membership, now give utilities the confidence that the interoperable G3-PLC-based equipment and tools will be available for their upcoming projects.
The ITU recently approved the G3-PLC protocol as a new low-frequency, OFDM-based narrowband powerline communications (NB-PLC) standard. The G3-PLC is the first NB-PLC standard that supports the IPv6 internet protocol to allow new internet-based energy management systems for use by utilities and grid operators to better manage their assets on the grid. Utility companies can now plan their deployments utilizing G3-PLC technology to achieve cost-effective smart grid systems that will meet customers’ needs today and in the future.
New members include MRSK, the Russian electricity distribution, construction and research company, and Atos Worldgrid, an energy systems integrator. Also joining are three equipment manufacturers, Elster offering measurement-and-control and systems integration, Iskreameco delivering energy measurement systems, and devolo AG providing communications solutions to the Smart Grid. In addition, four semiconductor companies, Accent Semiconductor, Enverve, Freescale, NXP and Renesas join LAN testing laboratory to round out the newmembers.
“By adding new members to the Alliance we not only gain more momentum for G3-PLC by having more products, but we also are better able to verify the specification and learn from the different experiences of the members”, said Jean Vigneron, General Secretary G3-PLC Alliance.
These industry-leading companies, coupled with the G3-PLC founding members, encompass all levels of the smartgrid industry, attesting to the significance and growing investment in G3-PLC technology. Products and solutions based upon the G3-PLC technology are available today — from communications chip sets to full-scale deployments — giving credibility to the standard’s acceptance and momentum. The feedback from these key companies will ensure that the G3-PLC specification will continue to evolve in order to provide the features and capabilities that will ensure a comprehensive and successful smart grid.
“We at Atos Worldgrid are excited to become a member of the G3-PLC Alliance”, commented Pierre Marlard, Director Innovation, Solutions and Marketing. “G3-PLC is a very promising powerline communications standard and as a systems integrator we can share our experience in large scale interoperability testing. We have already started integrating this technology in our products, solutions and projects.”
“Elster is proud to join the G3-PLC Alliance and work with other industry leaders to develop the next generation of PLC standards to meet the evolving needs of future smart metering and smart grid projects”, said Kim Norgaard, Vice President, Elster Electricity International.
All member companies are committed to the success of the G3-PLC technology, and will be instrumental in the rapid deployment of this technology. Members are dedicated to research or developing products based on G3-PLC, promoting the technology worldwide and participating in various technical working groups, interoperability testing and certification of their products.
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May 3, 2012 at 5:45 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Itron, Inc. announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of privately held SmartSynch for $100 million. The acquisition strengthens Itron’s cellular communications offering and brings greater choice to utility customers across the spectrum of smart metering deployments.
“I’m delighted to complete this acquisition of SmartSynch,” said LeRoy Nosbaum, Itron president and chief executive officer. “Itron has a long legacy of building flexible solutions to meet unique customer needs. By expanding our offering to include integrated cellular communications, we are positioned to help customers deploy the best technology mix and accelerate the adoption of smart metering and smart grid technologies.”
SmartSynch, the leading provider of point-to-point smart grid solutions that utilize a cellular network for communications, has more than 130 customers, including nine of the top ten utilities in North America. Most recently, SmartSynch’s technology was selected by Consumers Energy to meet the needs of a full cellular smart grid network deployment for 1.9 million electric residential and commercial & industrial customers.
Nosbaum continued, “We’re pleased to welcome the employees of SmartSynch to Itron which we believe will be a great fit.”
Stephen Johnston, former SmartSynch chief executive officer, will continue in a leadership role, setting cellular technology strategy for integrated smart grid solutions at Itron.
“By joining forces, we are the only company that can offer cellular along with a variety of RF-based technologies for smart grid projects today,” said Stephen Johnston, head of Cellular Solutions for Itron. “This is good for our customers, our business and the industry.”
More here.
May 1, 2012 at 11:20 am · Filed under Uncategorized
More than a decade ago, Microsoft execs, led by Chairman Bill Gates, were touting a future where .Net coffee pots, bulletin boards, and refrigerator magnets would be part of homes where smart devices would communicate and interoperate. Microsoft hasn’t given up on that dream.
In 2010, Microsoft researchers published a white paper about their work on a HomeOS and a HomeStore — early concepts around a Microsoft Research-developed home-automation system. Those concepts have morphed into prototypes since then, based on a white paper, “An Operating System for the Home,” published this month on the Microsoft Research site.
The HomeOS is a “PC-like abstraction” for in-home devices, like lights, TVs, surveillance cameras, gaming consoles, routers, printers, PCs, mobile phones and more. These devices appear to the HomeOS user as peripherals connected to a single PC.
The white paper never explicitly says that HomeOS is derived from or based on Windows. (There are other operating system research projects and incubations at Microsoft, including Singularity and Midori, neither of which is Windows-based, so it’s not a given that HomeOS is Windows-derived.) But it was built using C# and the .Net Framework 4.0, the new white paper on the technology explained.
The core of HomeOS is described in the white paper as “a kernel that is agnostic to the devices to which it provides access, allowing easy incorporation of new devices and applications. The HomeOS itself “runs on a dedicated computer in the home (e.g., the gateway) and does not require any modifications to commodity devices,” the paper added.
Microsoft has been testing HomeOS in 12 real homes over the past four to eight months, according to the latest updates. And 42 students have built new applications and added additional devices to support it, as well.
The HomeStore is still part of the HomeOS environment. The idea of the HomeStore is to simplify the process of finding new applications, drivers and devices, much like smartphone app stores do today.
More here.
May 1, 2012 at 9:25 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The exponentially growing number of objects connected to the Internet is completely changing our world. What new business models will appear? Which processes can be optimized? How many vertical markets will benefit? Libelium, a wireless sensor networks platform provider, has released the document “50 Sensor Applications for a Smarter World. Get Inspired!” covering the most disruptive sensor and Internet of Things applications.
The list is grouped in 12 different verticals, showing how the Internet of Things is becoming the next technological revolution. It includes the most trendy scenarios, like Smart Cities where sensors can offer us services like Smart Parking – to find free parking spots in the streets – or managing the intensity of the luminosity in street lights to save energy. Climate change, environmental protection, water quality or CO2 emissions are also addressed by sensor networks and are just some of the examples included in the Smart Water and Smart Environment sections included in the document.
Other sections such as Industrial Control, Logistics or Retail cover applications more focused in process efficiency like providing information for restocking the shelves and even product placement for marketing purposes. The list is completed with applications in the verticals of Smart Metering, Security and Emergencies, Smart Agriculture, Animal Farming, Domotic and Home Automation and eHealth.
“Now we are able to collect data everywhere from our environment, infrastructures, businesses and even ourselves, and this huge amount of information is generating a new ecosystem of business opportunities around its storage, analysis and accessibility” says Libelium’s CEO Alicia Asín. “We want this document to inspire people and companies with all the opportunities around the Internet of Things era” she adds.
More here.
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