Smart Energy Initiative
What is "smart energy"?
The term "smart energy" refers generally to actions and technologies that are used to improve the efficiency of energy consumption. Energy demand and costs are increasing rapidly, so utility companies are focusing on adopting communications and networking technologies to help consumers monitor and reduce their energy consumption.
In fact, the demand for energy is increasing so fast that forecasts indicate there will not be enough power plants to meet the peak demand periods (for example, a hot summer day when everyone has the A/C on). Also, demand will accelerate with a transition to electrically powered vehicles which need to be charged frequently.
To generate 58,000 megawatts requires approximately 110 large power
plants. That's about one new power plant every month for the next ten
years.
[Source: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation
(NERC)]
The Smart Grid: US $900B investment
The Smart Grid is realized by merging
data
from islands of automation to achieve a total end-to-end system view,
integrating information technology and operational
technology.
What does this mean for the HomePlug alliance?
By working together with utility companies and the ZigBee Alliance,
(see
our announcement
here) the HomePlug Powerline Alliance will help build the Home
Area
Network (HAN) ecosystem that enables intelligent energy management and
efficiency in the home and small businesses.
By providing a complimentary wireless (ZigBee) and wired (HomePlug)
infrastructure, the coverage for large homes and multi dwelling units
can be
assured.
HomePlug has created a Smart Energy steering team and approved the
formation
of a Technical Work Group to define a new specification to be known as
HomePlug SE. The immediate task for this team is to understand the
utilities
requirements and define the MAC and Phy layer technology within the
next 90
days.
|
Smart Meter
• Automated Meter Reading
⇒ Saves labor
• Real-Time Consumption
⇒ Modifies user behavior
• Demand Response
⇒ Manage peak demand
|
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If you'd like to learn more about the HomePlug Powerline Alliance or the Smart Energy Initiative, click here.
