EnergyManagement
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Sharp working with Japanese government on Home Energy Management System standard (video)
Sharp is partnering, not with another major player in the consumer electronics field but, with the Japanese government to create a standard based on its Home Energy Management System or HEMS. The platform allows users to not only monitor their energy consumption, but also reduce their electrical burden through home automation tools. With the aid of a tablet or smartphone, home owners can dim lighting and televisions or control thermostats, while monitoring how such changes affect energy consumption in real time. Sharp plans offer the system commercially with a router and WiFi modules that sit between appliances and your electrical outlet. The next step is getting regulators to agree to the standard so that non-Sharp products can become part of the ecosystem. Check out the video after the break.
There finally piloting Nokia's Home Control Center in Finland
It sure started out as something promising. When Nokia spun off its Home Control Center technology to There Corporation last year it seemed that easy DIY home automation and power management was just around the corner. Yet here we are, almost two years after first hearing about the effort with nothing but a convoluted mess of unfriendly ZigBee and Z-Wave (to name just 2 "standards") home automation products to choose from. There is hope, small as it may be. There Corporation just announced that it's working with Mitox Oy to conduct a pilot in Finland for customers of Helsingin Energia (Helen) using a There-provided web-based solution built around the ThereGate. It allows individuals to monitor their total power consumption in real time as well as the individual devices and systems that consume energy. Better yet, There Corp employs a "rate control concept" that automatically adjusts power usage to hours when energy costs less based on simple guidelines programed by the user. Unfortunately, There Corporation's focus is on Nordic countries until 2012 before looking to dominate European home energy management in 2015. Call us crazy, but this market seems ripe for domination by a major consumer electronics company right now, not in 5 years.
Cisco's second tablet runs Linux, manages home energy use
Looks like the Android-toting Cius wasn't the only tablet out of Cisco this week -- the company's also announced a countertop unit for home energy management with a 7-inch, 800 x 480 capacitive touch screen. Running Ubuntu Linux for MID on a 1.1GHz Intel Atom chip, the Home Energy Controller connects to smart thermostats and appliances over 802.11n WiFi or gigabit ethernet using protocols including ZigBee. It then lets you keep tabs on your electricity usage, and suggests ways you could improve -- assuming you're using the tablet for its intended purpose instead of watching hardware-accelerated videos on Mediafly, browsing the included app store, or (potentially) using it as a phone of some sort. Forbes reports the device will run $900 per installation, though it's more likely it'll arrive subsidized by a monthly power bill. See it in action right after the break, and hit up that PDF at the more coverage link for a full spec sheet.
Ford bringing Microsoft Hohm energy management to Focus Electric next year
It won't be among the first devices to use Microsoft's cleverly-named Hohm energy management system, but Ford has just announced that it will be incorporating the technology into its upcoming Focus Electric car. That makes it the first automaker to hop on board, and Ford even goes so far as to call the move a "needed step in the development of the infrastructure that will make electric vehicles viable." As with other devices, the internet-based Hohm service promises to help car owners determine when and how to most efficiently recharge their vehicles, and help utility companies manage demand as a result -- if enough folks use it, that is. Ford hasn't yet announced any other vehicles that will use Hohm, but the Focus Electric is apparently just the first of more to come, and will be available sometime next year. Head on past the break to see Microsoft explain the partnership.
Silverstat7 Zigbee-packin' thermostat to debut this fall for $600?
Every day it seems that companies are finding better ways to keep an eye on the non-renewable resources we're sucking down to enable our voracious appetite for Xbox gaming and Hulu viewing. Not that we're complaining! And now, thanks to a gracious tipster, we've received some deets on that Silverstat7 home energy management solution (er, touchscreen thermostat) we first hepped you to a couple days ago. Along with 802.11g WiFi, this guy supports the Zigbee and Zwave protocols (as you probably guessed), so it should be able to play nicely with your existing smart meter, switches and outlets. Earlier reports of a June 2010 release date may have been premature -- look for it this fall for about $600 MSRP. [Thanks, Tony L.]
Silverpac Silverstat 7 provides energy usage data, responds to touch
Boy, if it's not car dashboards, it's thermostats -- you just can't get away from touchscreens these days. The latest 7-inch temperature regulator from Silverpac comes with a bunch of extra goodies to entice the touch control-loving generation into the energy conservation game. With WiFi built in, the Silverstat 7 can pump data out to the internet or your home network, and is equally adept at streaming photos, music and other content back from those connections. A full week's worth of water temperature instructions can be programmed into the device, which can also inform you of weather conditions and your home's energy consumption. The latter part is most intriguing, as you'll be informed of power usage on a per-appliance basis, which can be mighty beneficial when a certain bit of home hardware gorges on electricity without you knowing. June 2010 is set as the release date, but the wallet damage remains unrevealed.
GE developing smart appliances: the future just got a bit less interesting
You know, the future used to be so much cooler before we gave up on our dreams of flying cars. Now instead of powering jet engines, it looks like our automobiles will power household appliances, and household appliances will use technologies like GE's SmartMeter to communicate with the local power grid. This could lead to such sexy contrivances as refrigerators that wait until off-peak hours to run the automatic defrost cycle, and (in coordination with tiered pricing for electricity and some new energy storage options) a bit of relief from the old fossil fuels. Maybe this is not exactly the stuff of William Gibson novels, but to hear more about "Energy Management Enabled Appliances" go ahead and hit that read link.
