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The Networked Lightbulb
Bringing the power of the Internet to the ordinary light bulb is one of the things that GreenWave Reality demonstrated at Parks Associates' Smart Energy Summit in Austin last January. The implications of this meet-up of the network with light source goes beyond energy efficiency and reaches into the fundamentals of home construction. For instance, why…
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The Killer Application for the Home Network
Filmed at the 2011 Broadband Properties Summit, this interview, with Stuart Sikes of Parks Associates and David Thompson of Zyxel looks at possible services that just might be the "killer application" for the home network. From telehealth to tech support to back-up storage to energy management, there are many opportunities for service providers to extend…
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Energy Metadata Privacy & The Impact of Vehicle Electrification
Who owns your energy data? In California, the customer does. The California Public Utility Commission is currently determining how PG&E can release that data to 3rd parties and still respect customer privacy.1 This will be key to enabling real-time monitoring of energy consumption. In this interview, Andrew Tang of PG&E addresses this topic, as well…
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Challenges in Educating the Customer Regarding New Infrastructure
PG&E made the headlines of today’s San Jose Mercury, as the California Public Utilities Commission ordered this investor-owned utility to devise ways for customers to refuse smart meters. The intent of this order is to placate critics of the meters who have expressed concerns over accuracy of these devices and the potential health effects of…
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Economy of Scope Key to Spread of Residential Energy Management
“Economy of scope” may be the thing that makes the residential connected grid work. Roy Perry of CableLabs uses this term to describe the idea that, thanks to a common IP infrastructure, multiple services help share the cost of infrastructure. In this video interview, he refers to a white paper he co-authored suggesting that a…
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From Smart Appliances to the Smart Grid
Wringing out efficiencies in the grid is big business, with AHAM (The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers) suggesting a $900M annual savings by shifting just 5% of power consumption from peak to off-peak times. One way to realize this sort of improved efficiency is by controlling the load through communication with so-called smart appliances. In…
