BP Solar to work with Comverge

BP Solar has selected Comverge to develop data acquisition and deployment solutions for stored energy.

As per the agreement, Comverge’s recently announced Apollo integrated demand response platform, AMI enabling technology, and information command center technology are going to be used.

The new contract with BP Solar calls for Comverge to integrate its advanced metering infrastructure technology utilising its advanced PowerPortal In-Home Display.

Comverge highlighted that it is becoming generally recognised that, because of the uneven nature of solar and wind generation, demand response programmes can act in concert with these alternative energy supplies to `level’ capacity.

Developing interfaces that provide solar production and other system information, BP Solar will have the option to integrate demand response using ZigBee enabled intelligent thermostats and digital control units.

Onsite systems data will be acquired and communicated offsite for performance monitoring, control, utility and customer information portals, according to Comverge.

Enabling consumers to know how their behaviour affects energy consumption

Energate has introduced a new solution in Consumer Connected Demand Response (CCDR).

This solution, according to the company, will enable utilities to engage their customers and deploy technology which will integrate seamlessly with AMI and the smart grid as it is built.

It builds from advanced in-home consumer options and supports multiple communication technologies from the home to utility load management software.

CCDR offers a variety of options for utilities and their customers, including ZigBee Smart Energy profile certified smart thermostats, load control switches, energy display, and web portal; communication options (broadband connectivity, FM digital radio, and support for AMI interoperability); utility application options (load management systems including one-way direct load control or two-way DR).

Commenting on the CCDR solution, Niraj Bhargava, CEO, Energate said: "It is an ideal offering to let utilities deploy Demand Response today, while building their smart grid infrastructure for tomorrow."

"Energate's strength in AMI interoperability and in-home devices gives the utility peace of mind that short term DR benefits are supportive of long term smart grid strategies."

Accenture speaks highly of Eric Beattie's smart meter

Accenture expects the work of a Scottish telecoms engineer related to consumer energy conservation to make "further inroads into the mass market in 2009".

Eric Beattie designed the smart meter to use as a communications device to interact with pre-paid utility meters. Beattie's invention would allow consumers to access their accounts remotely to add more funds.

As highlighted, the device was originally conceived as using communications equipment to interact with prepayment meters to allow customers to top-up their meter remotely. But smart meters, currently undergoing consumer trials throughout the UK, are seen as a potentially revolutionary aid to carbon reduction, as they allow householders and businesses to monitor closely in real time how much energy they are currently consuming and at what cost.

Accenture believes that "as the energy industry faces up to ever-deeper cuts in carbon emissions over the coming decades, the installation of smart meters in customers' homes is becoming increasingly important because of its potential to change consumers' behaviour and reduce energy consumption."

"At the same time, the parallel need to improve security of supply is adding to the momentum behind smart metering as a tool to manage consumption and facilitate the deployment of local domestic generation devices such as wind turbines, solar cells. With these needs in mind, energy suppliers are piloting and implementing smart meters at an accelerating rate."

Adrian Clamp, head of Accenture's utilities, oil and gas, and chemicals division in Scotland, told sundayherald.com: "They are important because they change the way the consumer can access info to drive down spend. They get far more intelligence - something that clips on to the metering infrastructure - but typically also a display screen that shows how much they are using."

LS Research launches Rate$aver

LS Research has teamed with Ember to develop Rate$aver, a device which serves as a wireless communications portal between utility companies and their customers.

LS Research's Rate$aver is a ZigBee Smart Energy-certified and FCC/IC-approved in-homedisplay (IHD) energy usage rate monitor based on Ember's ZigBee technology.

The device enables homeowners and utilities to collaborate on conserving energy and reducing costs. It provides "reliable, wireless communication of consumption data from the utility meter into the home", according to a release.

Rate$aver is the first battery-powered, wireless graphical display employing the ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile, which supports pricing, security, simple metering and messaging clusters, and is interoperable with other ZigBee Smart Energy certified products including electric smart meters. Rate$aver runs for up to two years on two AA batteries and uses a unique display technology that allows the display to remain visible even after the radio and the power are turned off.

The Rate$aver provides an advanced radio architecture and a 100mW power amplifier that eliminates the need for repeater devices in most homes. Rate$aver also employs Ember's bootloader capability enabling easy implementation of software updates.

LS Research was able to take advantage of Ember's Smart Energy Suite (SES) to bring the Rate$aver to market quickly.

Ember's Smart Energy Suite provides a fully integrated hardware and software platform including: the EM250 ZigBee System-on-Chip (SoC), EmberZNet PRO networking software, Smart Energy Certified application profile, Ember AppBuilder - a development tool for ZigBee Smart Energy, and Certicom elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) security software for ZigBee Smart Energy.

Gainspan and Grid Net to offer a smart grid HAN

Gainspan and Grid Net are developing standards-based Smart Grid connectivity that offers easy Home Area Network (HAN) access to utilities deploying AMI solutions using Grid Net's PolicyNet NMS.

GainSpan is an embedded Wi-Fi semiconductor company providing a low power single-chip solution.

According to the two companies, Grid Net's broadband smart meter HAN interface, coupled with GainSpan's ultra low-power chips that leverage the widely-deployed Wi-Fi infrastructure, will enable programmable, connected devices (such as thermostats and smart appliances) to optimise the control, delivery, and usage of power.

Over time, the companies plan to extend these capabilities to enable intelligent gas and water metering.

According to Ray Bell, CEO, GridNet, the "combination of GainSpan's ultra low-power Wi-Fi chips and GridNet's leading Smart Grid software and firmware enables utilities to benefit from cost-effective, secure Smart Grid home energy management solutions".

CalAmp embeds Ember ZigBee Technology

Ember Corporation has teamed with CalAmp Corp. to enable ZigBee and IP-based wireless networks to work together for automated meter reading, peak energy demand response and other smart grid applications.

CalAmp has integrated Ember's EM250 ZigBee System-on-Chip (Soc) and EmberZNet PRO ZigBee networking software into its new WiMetry IP-based wireless communications platform. WiMetry enables smart grid functions such as demand response, peak demand reduction and other advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications.

The integrated devices provide a two-way communication pathway to ZigBee enabled smart meters or In Home Devices (IHD) for energy load control, demand response, energy consumption or tariff display.

Referring to ZigBee wireless connectivity to both electric meters and ZigBee enabled IHDs, CalAmp's Industrial Monitoring and Controls unit VP and general manager Mark Christensen said the goal of the company was to provide real-time, two-way wireless communications to manage the sensing, collecting and monitoring of data from all portions of a utility's electric distribution grid.

The need for smart energy solutions is becoming more and more urgent, said Bob Gohn, vice president – marketing, Ember.

CalAmps WiMetry platform allows utility customers to implement efficient smart grid applications quickly, helping them respond to changes in their industry and the economy.

Swansea University develops advanced Smart Electricity Meters

The Power Electronics team from Swansea University's School of Engineering has developed what is being described as one of the world's most advanced Smart Electricity Meters.

The team, based within the Electronic Systems Design Centre, is currently supplying nearly 1.5MWh per year of free `Green electricity' to the University.

The project is one of a number of Welsh Assembly Government Knowledge Exploitation Fund research projects being undertaken in Wales and facilitated by the Welsh Energy Research Centre (WERC) to ensure Wales is at the forefront of current energy technologies.

The team implemented their prototype Smart Meter to highlight the potential of electricity metering technologies. Termed as the focal point for consumers' personal energy queries, the Smart Meter monitors energy consumption, giving information not just through a traditional power reading, but in a user-friendly way by displaying animated graphics of money on a large clear screen on the meter, according to the University. Plus, it monitors individual power circuits, including upstairs lighting, downstairs lighting and kitchen sockets.

The University added that the team believes there is also the possibility to monitor individual appliances when the technology is adopted further. The presentation of consumption information is complemented by the ability to show power generated from micro-renewable technologies in a 'plug and play' manner, similar to the wind turbine currently commercially available, and generic solar panels.

The Smart Meter is linked to a number of solar panels on the roof of the University's Engineering building through a power converter. The power delivered from the solar panels is monitored within the meter to allow the 'Green energy' produced to be reviewed in an easy to understand way. This allows clear indications whether the renewable technology has been a beneficial purchase and the likely financial performance from the initial investment.

The meter also has communication abilities, allowing the readings of power consumption and generation to be instantly available to the supplier and to the consumer via web pages, wireless in-home displays, or potentially even a television channel.