Smart grid

Smart thermostat connects to solar panel app

Updated at 11:30 p.m. with corrections.

While you're adjusting the thermostat when you get home at night, why not check in on your solar panels?

That's the idea behind Enphase Energy's Environ Smart Thermostat, which allows people to control their heating and cooling while also tracking performance of their solar panels. People can use a Web-based application from a PC or smart phone to view solar panel production and adjust their thermostat.

The product is made possible by the Enphase Energy's Internet-connected microinverters, devices attached to each solar panel to convert direct current to household alternating current, rather than through a large centralized inverter.

Environ also hints at some of the possibilities of combining home energy management and on-site energy production through a home-area network.

Home energy monitoring systems allow people to monitor energy usage and to control devices to reduce wasted energy or take advantage of off-peak rates.… Read more

GE brings smart grid home with energy monitor, EV charger

Can the consumer-friendly brand of GE put a face on the smart grid?

The industrial giant on Tuesday introduced two products--a home energy management system and electric vehicle charger--which are some of the most tangible aspects of what GE CEO Jeff Immelt on Tuesday called digital energy. The products were announced in tandem with a $200 million award competition to spur smart-grid technology ideas.

Both the Nucleus energy monitor, which will cost between $149 and $199, and WattStation electric vehicle charging pedestal are expected to be available next year.

The Nucleus home energy monitor and energy management system is a … Read more

GE, VCs offer $200 million in smart-grid challenge

General Electric and four venture-capital companies are putting up $200 million to award entrepreneurs for coming up with innovative ways to modernize the electricity grid.

At an event at San Francisco, the companies launched the "GE Ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid," a competition designed to cultivate smart-grid technologies. The money is being made available by GE, Emerald Technology Partners, Foundation Capital, Rockport Capital, and Kleiner, Perkinsk, Caufield & Byers, each of which are investing in green-technology start-ups.

"This challenge is about collaboration and we are inviting others to help accelerate progress in creating a cleaner, more efficient … Read more

Virtual power plants fill supply gaps in heat wave

During a few hours of last week's East Coast heat wave, thousands of megawatts worth of electricity--enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes--were temporarily removed from the grid, a practice grid operators expect to do more often to weather energy supply crunches on the grid.

PJM, which operates the wholesale electricity market in 13 states, on Monday reported that it put into effect an "emergency" demand response program last week, tapping over 2,500 megawatts worth of energy reductions, dispersed over thousands of sites, to ensure that electricity flowed during times of peak demand.

The last … Read more

Report: By 2015, $45 billion spent on smart grids

Governments and private interests worldwide are expected to increase investments in smart-grid technology, spending a total of more than $45 billion by 2015, says a new ABI Research report released Thursday.

Smart grids are electrical grid systems with two-way communication tools attached on both the utility and user ends to facilitate better energy efficiency practices. The integrated computerized systems enable real-time monitoring of electricity generation, distribution, and use. They can do things like warn utilities of peak demand geographically so accommodations can be made, or advise consumers of off-peak hours for running non-essential appliances. They can even notify connected "smart" appliances in the home … Read more

'Smart' thermostats to get test run in Texas

A thermostat technology that's intended to significantly reduce energy bills is about to become available for use in actual homes.

EcoFactor, the developer of a software platform for a two-way "smart" thermostat, announced Thursday its dynamic system for regulating home heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems will be offered through a pilot project in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, metro area.

In addition to turning heat or air conditioning on and off at set times or specified temperatures, the system monitors the thermal behavior of the home, as well as daily outdoor temperatures and weather forecasts. It … Read more

Consumers getting more attention in smart grid

The role of consumers--the end point in the complex chain of the power grid--is coming into sharper focus, as the country tries to modernize its electrical infrastructure.

As part of the government stimulus program, millions of smart meters will be installed over the next three years, providing a two-way connection between utilities and their customers. But despite the focus on hardware in the multibillion-dollar smart-grid program, both utilities and advocacy groups are starting to sing the virtues of consumer involvement.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy on Tuesday released results of a survey finding that energy use feedback tools … Read more

Cisco enters home smart-grid fray with energy display

Cisco Systems on Tuesday introduced a home energy management system, which it will test with customers of utility Duke Energy and which it plans to offer to other utilities.

The two companies said that Cisco will supply a home energy "controller," a countertop touch-screen display that allows people to monitor electricity usage and to program home energy to reduce waste and take advantage of off-peak pricing.

Duke plans to pilot-test the devices and related back-end services for a year starting this summer with customers in Charlotte, N.C., and in Cincinnati who already have smart meters installed.

The … Read more

Utilities look inside the home to fuel the grid

WASHINGTON--As utilities seek out future energy sources on the grid, tapping thousands of home water heaters is becoming an increasingly attractive choice over building new power plants.

Efficiency, long considered the cheapest way to meet energy demand, is becoming one of the most important "fuels" for grid operators, according to utility executives. Whether driven by regulators or rising energy costs, shaving electricity use of appliances or plug-in electric vehicles through smart-grid technologies is a key piece of the industry's long-term game plan, they said at the Kema Utility of the Future conference here last week.

Companies as … Read more