Start-up EcoFactor is looking at home energy management as a big math problem.
The Silicon Valley-based company on Tuesday is formally launching and is announcing that the largest utilty in Texas, Oncor, has signed on with EcoFactor's residential energy-management service for three years.
There are several companies developing Web-based software or displays to show consumers, in more detail than a monthly bill, how much energy they are using.
A conduit for gathering data.
(Credit: Carrier )EcoFactor's software, by contrast, works behind the scenes by gathering data from a two-way thermostat and then analyzing the information to optimize heating and cooling systems, which often account for about half of home electricity use.
Collecting thousands of pieces of information a day helps create a picture of a home's "thermal characteristics" and make heating and cooling systems run 20 percent to 30 percent more efficiently, said Scott Hublou, the company's senior vice president of products and co-founder. Even homeowners who have programmed thermostats can benefit because the analysis is customized for a single home, he said.
"People want to do the right thing but they don't necessarily have all the answers, which depends a lot on the thermal characteristics of the house and the mechances of the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems. Sometimes it's the best guess," Hublou said.
EcoFactor combines thermostat settings and information on weather forecasts to run HVAC systems more efficiently. For example, in a trial it found that in two nearly identical homes it was more efficient to turn on the air conditioner one hour before residents came home, rather than to run it at a slightly higher temperature all day long. People can also override settings, which is another piece of data the software uses.
To use the service, consumers need to have a two-way thermostat that can send data over a home broadband connection to EcoFactor's hosted application, which is written on the open-source LAMP stack.
EcoFactor plans to offer the service through business partners, including utilities. There are also a number of service providers, notably telecom operators and cable companies, that are looking to offer home energy-management services to existing customers.
In the deal with Oncor, the software will be used as part of demand-response program in Texas in which customers get a discount to cut electricity use during peak times, typically the middle of a hot day when the air conditioning load on the system is high.
Rather than adjust thermostats higher during peak times, the EcoFactor software will be able to "pre-cool" homes in anticipation of the demand-response event, which should make it more comfortable for people participating in the progam, Hublou explained. Altogether, the software will be used to cut three megawatts of peak power, the equivalent of about 2,000 average-size air conditioner units.
EcoFactor, which was founded three years ago, is funded by angel investors. The company is now in the process of trying to raise a series A round of venture capital.
After 100 years, the lowly utility meter is poised for a digital upgrade, with the installation of up to 250 million expected over the next six years, according to a new forecast.
Pike Research published on Monday a research report on smart meters that predicts installation to ramp up at a 19 percent annual rate through 2015.
(Credit:
Martin LaMonica/CNET)
Smart meters use wireless networking to shuttle information back and forth between utilities and customers. So far, the communications link has been used mainly to report back usage for monthly billing, but there are new applications aimed at efficiency.
Consumers can, in some cases, get a real-time read-out of electricity consumption or see a graph of a full day's use. Smart meters are also designed to help consumers take advantage of off-peak rates. Utilities are generally interested in moving usage to off-peak times and running power plants more efficiently.
A person could, for example, schedule a dishwasher to run or charge a plug-in vehicle in the middle of the night. Information from the smart meter signals when cheaper rates are in effect.
Pike's forecast notes that the push to smart meters is global, driven by government interest in energy efficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy's smart-grid grant program announced last week is expected to result in 18 million smart meter installations across the nation. About 3.5 percent of the world's meters can be considered "smart," with the number set to grow to 18 percent by 2015.
Despite the spike in installations, there are a number of technical barriers to overcome, including a lack of standards. In particular, there is a "jumble" of different neighborhood-area networking technologies to carry data from homes back to utilities. The most advanced smart meters have the ability to connect to home-area networks.
Fuel efficiency is the No. 1 factor in equipment purchases within the trucking industry, a new report from IBM says.
At the same time, brand name has fallen to the bottom of the criteria list and "faces the risk of slow death," according to the report.
The combination of those two factors means that new players in the trucking industry will give established brands a run for their money.
(Credit:
IBM)
"The truck ecosystem will thrive because of--rather than in spite of--a chaotic introduction of new players," the report said.
"Truck 2020: Transcending Turbulence," which came out of IBM's Institute for Business Value, was based on interviews of 91 executives from 13 countries and from across the industry, including truck and bus original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, regulators, and industry associations.
The trucking industry has been faced with financial hurdles, higher energy costs, and the image as a polluter in recent years, according to IBM. And the necessary advances for the industry are not restricted to strides in fuel efficiency.
Telematics will also be key, the report said. Evaluating and diagnosing vehicles remotely and in real time will be a useful tool in preventative maintenance. It will cut down on unexpected breakdowns that disrupt service and that cost trucking companies time and money, according to the report. Telematics tools that collect real-time data can also be useful for curbing litigation over accidents, the report noted.
While the growing significance of telematics may be entirely true, it should be noted that IBM has a vested interest in that field.
Big Blue has said it sees automotive computing as the company's next frontier and has been actively developing telematics and infrastructure technology for at least the last six years.
As far back as 2003, IBM began developing XML-based data retrieval architecture that would allow vehicles to receive real-time traffic and speed data from highways. In 2005, it signed a $125 million telematics deal with United Arab Emirates. And in 2006, it began partnering with manufacturer Magna Electronics to develop smart car parts.
Appliance manufacturer Whirlpool has received $19.3 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding as part of its Smart Grid Investment Grant program, the company announced Thursday.
Whirlpool, which markets appliances under the brand names Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, and Bauknecht, joins General Electric in what seems to be a quest for designing the most well-behaved appliances.
The Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer is part of the company's 2009 line of eco-efficient laundry appliances. With Department of Energy funds, it plans to have a million smart-grid-compliant dryers ready for sale by 2011.
(Credit: Whirlpool)Similar to GE's smart-appliance ambitions, Whirlpool plans to develop home appliances that can connect and communicate with municipal smart grids. The machines will be able to receive signals from a smart grid, letting it know of off-peak hours, a good time to turn on and run.
Whirlpool, which will get its funding over a two-year period, plans to match the funds in order to have a million smart-grid-compatible dryers available for public purchase by 2011. The smart dryers will be manufactured in the United States, and the company estimates that the dryers could save consumers $20 to $40 per year in energy savings.
In addition to the smart dryers, Whirlpool has pledged that by 2015, it will discontinue making appliances sans the ability to communicate with smart grids. It will no longer make "dumb" appliances at all.
That promise, however, is dependent on a few things happening.
"This commitment is dependent on two important public-private partnerships: the development by the end of 2010 of an open, global standard for transmitting signals to, and receiving signals from, a home appliance; and appropriate policies that reward consumers, manufacturers, and utilities for using and adding these new peak-demand reduction capabilities," Whirlpool said in a statement.
Whirlpool's announcement follows President Obama's release this week of plans to overhaul the country's electrical grid to turn it into a smart-grid system. An estimated $8.1 billion is planned to be spent on 100 smart-grid projects in 49 states. Utilities themselves will kick in $4.7 billion, while the remaining $3.4 billion will come from the U.S. government as stimulus money.
Google PowerMeter software monitors home energy usage in real time and can be accessed from a person's iGoogle home page.
(Credit: Google)U.K. residents will now be able to monitor and regulate their home energy usage from any Web-enabled phone or computer regardless of whether their energy provider uses smart meters.
Google announced two U.K. partnerships this week concerning its PowerMeter software, one of which completely bypasses the need for cooperation from an energy provider.
Since the U.K. electricity and gas supplier First Utility began offering customers free smart meters in September 2008, it has had 30,000 customers take them up on the offer. Now, as a result of a Google partnership announced Tuesday, First Utility smart meter customers will have the option of allowing their info to be relayed to Google's PowerMeter so their smart meter data and control can be Web-accessible. The service will become available to Midlands customers in early November 2009, and eventually extend it to the entire U.K.
Google also announced Wednesday that its PowerMeter software will be compatible with AlertMe, a U.K. self-install energy monitoring system that works regardless of a resident's energy provider or the type of meter installed in the home.
Unlike smart meters, the AlertMe system does not communicate with an electricity utility's smart grid to advise on low-peak usage hours. It consists of a meter reader that clips on to a home's existing electric meter, smart plug adapters for appliances, and a wireless hub that plugs into a home's broadband connection. The hub wirelessly communicates between the meter reader, smart plugs, and AlertMe service.
AlertMe's smart plug, meter reader, and wireless hub.
(Credit: AlertMe)The device's non-evasive nature makes it an option for renters as well as homeowners. And AlertMe is clearly attempting to target that renter market by pointing out in its quirky infomercials (see video below) that its device is unobtrusive. Unlike smart meters, it does require the usual landlord permission to be installed.
The kits costs 69 British pounds ($113) plus a required 12-month contract for its 2.99 pounds-per-month ($4.90) communication service, which requires that the home have broadband access. The total cost, including one free month of service, comes to 101.89 pounds ($167.55).
On Wednesday, the company also announced the start of its trial with British Gas on an AlertMe kit for monitoring and controlling heating from gas that will tie into the gas utility's smart meters. Since AlertMe monitors are now compatible with Google's PowerMeter, the software will be available to British Gas customers who join that smart meter program.
The Google PowerMeter software that ties in to First Utility, AlertMe, and (by default) the British Gas trial program, is currently free. It makes real-time usage data collected from the companies available by cell phone or computer. The data can then be charted in hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly segments for analysis, allowing users to basically conduct their own personal green-living and energy-usage experiments.
A person could test if shutting off their TV and its electronic accouterments for one week, as opposed to leaving them in standby mode, really makes a dent in their home's overall energy consumption. AlertMe subscribers could also use the PowerMeter software to remotely turn specific appliances on or off.
Both AlertMe and First Utility have said they've found their consumers really do tend to adjust their usage habits to save energy and money, once they come face to face with their own usage data.
"At the end of the day, if you can't measure and view your energy use, it's very difficult to make savings," First Utility's CEO Mark Daeche said in a statement.
The U.S. electricity grid will get a 21st century upgrade, including installation of millions of smart meters, through a government-led program.
The Obama administration is scheduled to announce Tuesday where it is spending $3.4 billion of stimulus money on 100 smart-grid projects in 49 states. As part of the funding, utilities are contributing $4.7 billion to the projects, pushing the total spending to $8.1 billion.
The injection of capital in the grid will make electricity delivery more reliable and help consumers use energy more efficiently, Carol Browner, the president's assistant on energy and climate change, said during a call with the media Monday night. Improving the infrastructure will also allow the country to use more solar and wind power, she said.
President Obama is scheduled to detail the smart-grid program awards in Arcadia, Fla., the location of one of the largest solar farms in the U.S.
The smart grid covers a range of digital devices and software. The bulk of the smart-grid stimulus grants will be spent on installing new hardware, including 18 million smart meters that have two-way communications to convey information between a home or business and the utility.
Smart meters can be used to shift the electricity load, such as running clothes driers or dishwashers, to off-peak times, which means that expensive and polluting auxiliary power plants may not need to be turned on.
The funding will also result in the installation of 200,000 more reliable advanced transformers and 700 automated substations that will be converted to digital controls, Matt Rogers, senior adviser for Recovery Act implementation at the Department of Energy, said Monday.
In addition to smart meters, over 1 million consumers will get in-home displays to provide information on electricity usage in real time and allow them to program their big appliances. The projects are expected to lead to over 130,000 network-connected thermostats as well, according to the DOE.
The DOE anticipates that the initial 18 million smart meters, which will cover 13 percent of homes, will allow utilities to use the grid more efficiently. That will lead to a higher penetration of advanced meters--as many as 40 million in the next few years, Rogers said.
The giant digital upgrade--anticipated for months--was applauded by companies trying to capitalize on grid modernization efforts, such as Cisco Systems, meter manufacturers, and a raft of start-ups that sell software or devices for the smart grid.
"These grants are an important down payment on building a smarter grid and will certainly jump-start both industry and state regulators to deploy smart-grid technologies," Katherine Hamilton, president of industry advocacy group GridWise Alliance, said in a statement.
The largest grants are $200 million while the smallest are less than $10 million. Altogether, there are 25 large-scale projects and 75 smaller ones, officials said. There were 400 applications for funding.
A list of projects by category can be found here and by state here. A map of the awarded projects can be found here.
California regional finalists for the Cleantech Open were announced Wednesday.
(Credit:
Cleantech Open)
Think of the Cleantech Open, which started in 2006, as a Western divisions-only March Madness for environmental techies looking for funding. Contestants initially compete against each other in three Western U.S. regions: California, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific Northwest. Since its inception, the contest has garnered more than $125 million in funding for its contestants, according to Cleantech. It's also helped companies like Cool Earth Solar, and GreenVolts get noticed.
This year the California region judges had an initial pool of 278 teams, which it narrowed down to 49 semifinalists who then presented their projects in person. From those semifinalists, six regional finalists were chosen, one for each category of environmental technology that the Cleantech Open focuses on. Those final six, which received $100,000 worth in prizes for their regional win, will now go on to compete against finalists from other regions for the national award in their category.
This year's air, water, and waste category in California was won by Micromidas, a company trying to perfect a process to turn raw sewage into biodegradable plastic products.
Alphabet Energy, a team from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, won the energy efficiency category for a system that produces electricity from waste heat. The group, which twittered a thank you to "the academy" for its win, says its inexpensive method has the potential to offset up to 500 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Tru2earth won the green building category for its Life Cycle Roof Tile made from recycled water and soda bottle plastic that can double as siphons for capturing gray water.
A DIY-installation solar roof panel system from Armageddon Energy, called the SolarClover, won the renewable energy category, while the smart power category was claimed by EcoFactor. The company developed an SaaS platform that "collects, analyzes and acts upon thousands of data points relating to a home's HVAC needs and preferences to help utilities improve demand management and enable consumers to lower energy costs and save money on utility bills without sacrificing comfort or giving up control."
"The Cleantech Open helped Armageddon Energy get off the ground. It brought the founding team together, helped us build our business plan and make crucial business connections. And, by winning the Renewable Energy category, it will undoubtedly help us as a small company gain credibility with crucial customers, supply chain partners, and investors," Armageddon Energy CEO Mark Goldman, said in a statement.
The transportation category was handed to FuelSaver Technologies. The team proposed a modified design for tractor-trailer trucks to minimize drag. The group claims the invention could reduce fuel consumption of a truck by as much as 25 percent depending on certain conditions, and could pay for itself in fuel savings within a year of long-haul driving.
"Our solution is a full body streamlining of the vehicle's aerodynamic profile, minimizing drag at the back of the trailer, underbelly of the trailer, and the gap between the tractor and trailer," the group said in a statement.
Finalists from each region will attend an awards ceremony and gala in San Francisco on November 17.
DETROIT--There's a great deal of interest from consumers in plug-in vehicles but electricity utilities say they need to prepare even before electric cars start to plug in.
Industry association the Edison Electric Institute on Wednesday issued a pledge that its members will take steps to smooth the transition to electrically fueled vehicles. The chairman of the institute and CEO of utility DTE Energy, Anthony Earley, voiced the industry's support for plug-in vehicles here at the Business of Plugging In Conference.
"The industry's challenge will be to effectively manage this transition," Earley said. "We recognize that now is the time. After years of debate, the electric vehicle is ready for prime time."
In a DOE-sponsored program, a number of utilities are testing the mileage improvements and impact on the grid of plug-in electric vehicles.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)The statement underscores the growing interconnectedness between the auto and utility industries that's occurring as a wave of plug-in electric cars approach car dealerships.
Plug-in hybrid or pure-electric cars promise to be cheaper to fuel up--the equivalent of $1 per gallon, Earley said. But there are a number of barriers to widespread adoption, including higher upfront costs and the potential impact on the electricity grid.
Utility executives say that adding just a few plug-in electric vehicles to an area could overload the local distribution circuit, particularly if drivers install faster 220-volt chargers at home. There have also been concerns that fueling millions of vehicles from the grid will require construction of more power plants to meet the added demand.
Utilities and auto executives say there is sufficient demand to charge vehicles in the near term with existing power plants if cars are charged at off-peak times, typically overnight. But there needs to be some products and policy changes to ensure that off-peak charging takes place en masse.
In its pledge, the Edison Electric Institute said that they will seek to install more charging stations in public places. Also, it will encourage development of policies that give consumers cheaper electricity rates at off-peak times.
Utilities are now working in a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored program to test the impact of plug-in electric vehicles. The Edison Electric Institute also said that utilities will establish customer support and education.
An internal audit by the Energy Department concluded that some EnergyStar products are not meeting the requirements to gain the energy-efficiency label.
On Monday, The New York Times reported the results of the audit, which found that the two agencies responsible for the EnergyStar program--the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency--haven't been fully enforcing compliance. The audit also said manufacturers of some products, including refrigerators and air conditioners, have been certifying products themselves.
Last week, the DOE issued a statement, detailing how it plans to firm up its oversight of energy-efficiency certification.
The DOE said it will randomly review whether manufacturers are meeting all the specifications for efficiency standards, such as the EnergyStar logo. Lack of full compliance could lead to penalties or actions, such as removing a label. The DOE also said it will issue guidelines for new product categories quickly.
The Obama administration has made energy efficiency, in appliances as well as vehicles, a high priority in its energy policy. The administration said that it has issued five efficiency standards ahead of schedule, which will save between $250 billion and $300 billion over the next 30 years as well as 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, once in effect.
The DOE noted that this summer it investigated two alleged violations of its efficiency code by makers of air conditioners and freezers and expects to resolve the cases shortly.
The EnergyStar program has grown rapidly since it started in 1992 and has become a familiar label for consumers looking to save money on electricity use or buy more environmentally friendly products. But the rapid growth of the program has led to some growing pains, building energy policy expert Lane Burt of the Natural Resources Defense Council told the Times.
Team Germany's winning SurPlusHome
(Credit: Department of Energy)A high-tech building covered on all sides with solar cells has won an international contest for the best home powered only by the sun.
Team Germany, which also won in 2007, took first place in the Solar Decathlon, beating out teams from Illinois and California.
At a ceremony Friday in Washington, D.C., the Department of Energy announced the winners of the competition, in which student teams designed and built solar homes on the National Mall. For the past week, the homes have been scored on architecture, market viability, and a number of objective measures, such as how much hot water the house can generate.
On the final day, Germany beat out its rivals by getting the highest score in the net metering contest, or the amount of excess electricity the home produced.
Germany's team, from Technische Universitat in Darmstadt, designed a building that not only had solar panels on the roof, but also on the walls, making the potential generation as high as 11,000 watts. The specially designed siding that used thin-film solar cells fitted onto aluminum strips. The solar cells ran all the electrical systems, including the hot water heater, and are capable of generating about twice as much electricity as the house needs.
Underneath the clapboard was a highly insulating material. That was one of a number of techniques, including automated louvers to take in outside air, that home used to increase its energy efficiency and conform to the Passive House low-energy home standard.
The cube-like structure not only allowed for a maximum surface area for solar cells, but also allowed the architects to build a two-story interior, unlike the other entrants. The cost for this sophisticated home was at the high end in the competition, with an estimated price tag in the $650,000 to $850,000 range.
By contrast, the second place team--Team Illinois from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign--made a home on the low end of the price range, estimated at about $250,000.
The Illinois team chose to focus on local architecture and local suppliers for its house. It used reclaimed wood from a family barn and a local grain elevator for the siding and decking. On the inside, it used a new product--structural bamboo beams--made from a fast-regenerating plant.
The designers at Illinois, too, chose to run the house entirely on solar electric panels, rather than have a combination of solar photovoltaics and solar hot water panels for all heating and cooling. The all-electric system allowed it to use highly efficient air-source heat pump. The building was also heavily insulated, getting an estimated R50 by using spray foam, and chose highly efficient appliances inside.
Team California, which was a collaboration between Santa Clara University and the California College of the Arts, came in third place, placing at the top in the communications and architecture categories.
The homes in the competition were limited to 800 square feet but California designed its home to give it a bigger feel by having different zones and a large deck that integrated with the main living space.
The team, which also scored well for home entertainment and appliances, designed a home-automation system that allows home owners to monitor energy usage from a touch-screen display. The same display also allows people to control lighting, the shades, and appliances.
The full scorecard and more photos of the homes can be seen at the Solar Decathlon site.
