September 2nd, 2010
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Cisco delves deeper into the smart grid market by announcing today its plans to acquire Arch Rock Corp , a privately held company that makes IP-based wireless technology company for smart grid applications. This comes on the heels of yesterday’s announcement of their strategic alliance with smart meter giant Itron . Read more about it here and here . Chevrolet Volt automaker GM seeks to trademark the term “ range anxiety .” The phrase references the fear that electric vehicles will run out of battery on long trips. The Volt, it should be noted, has a gas engine that can extend its range. A Tesla spokesperson shot back: “By all means, GM can have ‘range anxiety.’ To Roadster owners, the term is as irrelevant as ‘gas stop’ or ‘smog check.’ We are, however, looking into trademarking ‘Tesla grin.’” Lux predicts winners and losers in coming solar industry shakeup
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On the GreenBeat: Cisco to acquire Arch Rock, Tesla fires back at GM
Comverge , one of several companies offering utilities third-party demand response and energy efficiency services, announced today that it has signed a $30 million deal with major Texas utility TXU Energy to roll out about 100,000 smart thermostats across its coverage area . Smart thermostats are quickly becoming one of the most popular tools for consumers to reduce their energy consumption and their electricity bills.
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TXU teams with Comverge to smarten up 100,000 thermostats in Texas
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Grid Net , the smart grid communications provider known for championing WiMAX as the best option for transmitting energy data between meters, utilities and consumers, announced that it is partnering with Oracle’s utilities division to sell network and meter management software . Oracle delved deep into the smart grid software space last year, when it launched an end-to-end solution for utilities integrating smart grid systems into their offerings. This bundle includes Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management and Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing. Essentially, it offers software to help utilities parse all the data flowing in from smart meters into actionable information, and to help them more efficiently serve their customers. Grid Net will be selling these products to complement its own software offerings: the PolicyNet SmartGrid Network Management System and Smart Network Operating System. Basically, its landed a plum alliance with this Oracle deal, buddying up with one of the companies that has been serving utilities for years. That said, Grid Net is not the only firm that Oracle has formed this kind of relationship with
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Grid Net, Oracle join forces to extend smart grid software
Control4 , maker of dashboards that allow consumers to automate their homes — everything from their media collections to their security systems to their thermostats — has just launched a platform allowing third-party Flash developers to create and contribute their own apps to Control4’s repertoire . At the same time, it’s opened up a contest for developers to win as much as $10,000. Called the 4Store application marketplace, the Flash-based platform is the first app catalogue of its kind to not be tied to mobile phones, and to center around devices, appliances and systems in the home. That said, the company says it hopes that developers will bring the expertise and ideas they cultivated working on social networking, informational and entertainment apps for phones to the home arena. The company has provided Control4 software development kits to developers so that they can create applications that make homes smarter, and that give consumers more control over their media centers, lighting, heating and air conditioning, security and surveillance, and appliance energy consumption. For example, Control4 customers could potentially use these apps to schedule when to water their lawns, when their refrigerators should make ice, at what temperature to switch on air conditioning or heating systems, and more
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Control4 lets Flash developers take a stab at energy apps
One of the hottest topics in energy independence is power grid technology, which enables consumers to save energy and money by powering homes and buildings in a smart and more efficient way. In fact, grid technologies have the potential to deliver a 10 percent savings on power bills – that equates to $36 billion a year! And the savings for Mother Earth are immeasurable. Forward-thinkers who aspire to effect change with an eco-friendly, money-saving idea: Now’s your time to – literally – get on the grid
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Power up to the $200M grid
eMeter , one of a number of companies building software for smart meters, has raised $12.5 million from Sequoia Capital and Foundation Capital — two prestigious Silicon Valley names looking to get in on the growing smart gird business. As the caliber of these investors suggests, eMeter is no arbitrary pick
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eMeter’s CEO on its new $12.5M and holistic approach to the smart grid
The movement toward a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid is underway. And while digital electricity meters seem to be at the forefront, a radically new concept of energy distribution is quietly taking shape: small, locally-generated power systems — otherwise known as microgrids. Microgrids are basically self-contained electrical ecosystems. Power is produced, transmitted, consumed, monitored, and managed all on a local scale. In many cases, they can be integrated into larger, central grids, but their defining characteristic is that they can operate independently if disconnected from the whole. This Innovation Series is brought to you by Lexus
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How microgrids will change the way we get energy from A to B
OpenPeak , maker of dashboard-like devices with applications that look vaguely like the iPad, has just raised $52 million from Intel Capital and General Electric’s venture arm . And while many are postulating a potential iPad rival from the lesser-known company, the more likely story is that OpenPeak will become a formidable player in the emerging energy management and efficiency space. While the company started off making its touch-screen gadgets for home automation purposes, like organizing media in a central location, connecting to the internet, or making calls, it has more recently been focused on showing customers how much energy they are using and how much it is costing them in real time. The company solidified this move last September by partnering with Itron , one of the biggest maker of smart meters that wirelessly beam energy data back to utilities and consumer devices like OpenPeak’s. But the company isn’t alone in the field of devices — not by a long shot. Competitors like Tendril and Control4 have also gained a lot of traction with similar dashboard displays that exist separately from homeowners’ computers, televisions and phones
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OpenPeak could throw energy management market for a loop with new $52 million
Cisco Systems has been talking a big game about its involvement in the Smart Grid for a year . And it’s been successful at building its reputation in the space without ever releasing anything concrete. Today, it’s finally made good on the hype, unveiling the first of what its calling its “Connected Grid Solutions.” It has launched the Cisco Connected Grid Router (CGR 2010) and Cisco Connected Grid Switch 2520 (CGR 2520), both being variations on existing products, designed to facilitate Smart Grid communications, including the wireless transmission of energy consumption data between smart meters, utilities and consumer devices. The major emphasis behind these new offerings: security. Both the router and the switch are meant tobe integrated into existing electrical substations so that IP communications (Cisco’s bread and butter) can be used to closely monitor grid operations, including power loads, renewable energy generation, demand response programs, and outages. These operations alone could save utilities millions of dollars a year in maintenance costs, and deliver extremely accurate information to their customers interested in changing their energy consumption and spending behavior. Cisco is making it very clear that these two products are the first of many to come tailored to Smart Grid applications
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After a year of big talk, Cisco launches its first Smart Grid products
Electrical equipment manufacturer Cooper Industries expanded its Smart Grid strategy today with the acquisition of wireless networking provider Eka Systems . The deal is significant because it shows just how hard it is for smaller wireless networking companies like Eka to compete in an increasingly crowded field dominated by generously-backed players like Trilliant and Silver Spring Networks — not to mention the SmartSynchs of the world using public networks for grid communications, or Grid Net , working to popularize WiMAX. There are simply too many companies vying to be the choice for beaming energy date between smart meters and utilities. Eka’s wireless mesh technology will get a new lease on life as part of Cooper’s Smart Grid portfolio, cushioned by the larger company’s $1.1 billion in revenue
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Cooper grows Smart Grid presence with Eka Systems buy
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