GridWeek Roundup: Smart Grid Integration, Ahoy
Smart grid trade show GridWeek is wrapping up in Washington D.C., but the hard work of integrating all the hardware and software on display has just begun. Read more »
BrightSource, Alstom Eye Mediterranean “Ring” for Solar Thermal
BrightSource Energy and French power giant Alstom have formed a partnership aimed at building solar-thermal power plants in a ring around the Mediterranean. In terms of geography, if not scale, the plan echoes the scheme of the Desertec Initiative, the mega-giant of solar-thermal projects. Read more »
How Schneider Electric is Tackling the Smart Grid
Schneider Electric likes to say that 70 percent of the world’s electrons flow through its equipment. What’s it doing to make those electrons flow more intelligently? Read more »
Playing Translator Between Solar & Utilities
Intermittent solar power systems could cause lots of grid instability, unless utilities can communicate with them in some kind of common language using a set of common commands. Here’s a list of those top commands, and how they may emerge as industry standards. Read more »
3Q Greentech: VC Funding Down, Plus Early-Stage Struggles
Green technology needs to grow up and get a job — and it’s a tough job market. The third quarter saw a big drop-off in early-stage venture capital and an even steeper decline in solar power investments. Read more »
Why Comverge Is Rebranding Demand Response
Comverge has rebranded itself as a provider of “intelligent energy management” services. What does that mean for the demand response provider’s future against big competitor EnerNOC and upstarts in the smart grid space? Read more »
Well-Funded GridPoint Replaces Founding CEO
GridPoint has replaced founding CEO Peter Corsell with a veteran of the software and communications industries. The thrice-reincarnated smart grid startup has $220 million, tons of acquisitions and a lot to prove. Read more »
Smart Meter System On a Chip: The Pros and Cons
Smart meters, smart thermostats, smart appliances and other smart grid devices have lots and lots of chips in them. Putting all those functions together in one system-on-a-chip can save lots of money and time spent on integration — if they give device makers the right combo. Read more »
GE to Challenge First Solar in Thin-Film Panels
GE is gunning for First Solar’s turf with a new line of thin-film solar panels, saying it hopes to grow its solar business to match its $6 billion-a-year wind power dominance. Read more »
The Race Is (Still) On: ZigBee vs. WiFi for Smart Energy Homes
In the race between the wireless standards ZigBee and WiFi to network energy-smart homes, ZigBee is so far the clear winner. But that doesn’t mean ZigBee has proven its superiority to Wi-Fi. Read more »
Smart Grid Woes Move to Illinois, ComEd
A state court has ruled that the IC was wrong to allow utility Commonwealth Edison to pass on certain costs to its customers, including the $5 million passed on to customers in 2008 for a smart grid pilot project now getting underway. Read more »
Superconducting Wire Powering Up Korean Smart Grid
Could superconducting cable revolutionize the way electric grids operate? American Superconductor believes so, and plans to test it out in projects including one on South Korea’s smart grid test bed of Jeju Island. Read more »
Google Strikes Geothermal Gold in West Virginia
Has Google struck geothermal gold in West Virginia? A Google-funded report shows the state’s underground heat could provide 18,890 megawatts of power, more than its current coal-fired generation capacity. Read more »
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How to Capture Building Management’s Untapped Middle Market
In the building energy management sector, mid-size commercial properties like restaurants and stores are relegated to the industry’s untouched middle territory. But the right combination of low-cost and enhanced customer service could crack open this untapped ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Building Energy Management for the Mushy Middle Market
Big buildings already have plenty of energy management technology, and household energy efficiency is the focus of dozens of VC-backed startups and IT giants alike. But who’s tackling the small and mid-size commercial building market, or the “mushy middle?” Read more »
IBM Expands Smart Building, Green IT Tools
IBM has been talking for a long time about linking smart building technology and enterprise-wide sustainability. Late Thursday, it unleashed a slew of new products, services and partnerships aimed at cementing that role. Read more »
WiTricity Lands Delphi as Wireless Car Charging Partner
MIT spinout WiTricity wants to make charging electric vehicles plug-free, by simply parking them on top of wireless charging systems set into garages or parking spots — and it has landed auto parts giant Delphi as a partner. Read more »
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Demand Response as the Back Door Smart Grid?
New smart grid technologies promise to widen the reach of demand response, but what if that process works in reverse? Big demand response players are leveraging their middleman role between utilities and customers to bring their technology in as a “back-door” smart grid conduit between the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Why the Line Between Smart Grid & Demand Response Is Blurring
Big demand response players are leveraging their middleman role between utilities and customers to apply their technology in to fields traditionally defined as smart grid. Given the way the market is developing, they may have little choice. Read more »
AVOB Takes PC Power-Saving to the Processor
French startup AVOB, which launches in the U.S. on Monday, says it can ramp down processor speed and voltage while a computer is working and is testing it with the likes of Intel, Microsoft and Cisco. Read more »
Report: Smart Grid Outspends Smart Meters
Smart meters get all the attention, but smart distribution grid and substation projects are actually taking the lead in smart grid spending across the nation, and corporate giants are reaping the benefit. That’s the gist of a Cleantech Group report released by the DOE Thursday. Read more »
Big Money for Smart Grid Hand Holding
Adding digital intelligence to the power grid is a complex and unfamiliar task for utilities, and they’re going to need a lot of hand holding. That’s going to drive the “smart grid managed services” market to more than $4.3 billion in global revenue by 2015. Read more »
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Why Texas is the Smart Meter Market to Watch
The Lone Star State may lag behind California in its number of smart meters deployed, but it’s taken a lead in regulations and funding. And those are just a couple items in a long list of reasons why, despite one or two cost barriers, Texas may ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
GM, ABB Seek Chevy Volt Battery Afterlife in Grid
The green car battery recycling bandwagon just got a bit more crowded. General Motors and Swiss grid giant ABB announced that the two companies will jointly research ways to reuse old batteries from GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid for storing power on the grid. Read more »
Why Texas is the Smart Meter Market to Watch
When it comes to the future of smart meters, don’t look to California — set your eyes on Texas. The Lone Star State lags California in sheer numbers of meters deployed, but has taken a lead in supporting them with regulations and funding. Read more »
How to Deal With: I’m Not Paying For That Smart Meter
In most states utilities raise electricity rates in order to pay for the installation of new gear like smart meters — so consumers basically cover the cost of the upgrade. But some consumers and PUCs aren’t so happy about those terms. Read more »
Meter Granddaddy Elster Seeks IPO
Look out, smart meter startups with IPO dreams — the granddaddy of power metering is plugging into the public markets. Elster Group, the German electric, gas and water metering giant founded in 1848, announced this week that it was filing to go public. Read more »
Joule Patents Secret Sauce for Diesel-Excreting Organisms
Joule Unlimited, a startup that promises to genetically engineer an organism that eats CO2 and produces a drop-in diesel fuel, has landed a patent on its “recombinant biosynthesis” technology. Read more »
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Is the Opt-Out Model the Future of Home Energy Management?
Even with smart meters and home energy portals, customers want opt-out options for home energy management rather than plans that ask them to monitor energy use every day. Here’s how the opt-out concept can guide startups and IT giants in the home energy management ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Opt-Out: The Biggest Little Words in Home Energy Management
What if the most successful home energy-saving technology ends up being the one people have to opt out of? Utilities can sign customers up for programs automatically, unless they actively choose not to join. Companies targeting the home energy management space should remember this powerful tool. Read more »
Aurora Drops Biofuels For Greener Algae Markets
Aurora Biofuels announced Monday that it has changed its name to Aurora Algae, in hopes of finding commercial markets today in turning algae into nutrients and protein products. It’s not exactly a vote of confidence for the idea of turning algae into biofuel. Read more »
Cisco & Pulse Energy Team Up to Green Vancouver Buildings
Networking giant Cisco has teamed up with building efficiency startup Pulse Energy to track and manage energy use in city buildings in Vancouver. The partnership is one of the first times that Cisco has brought in a startup to work with its EnergyWise building controls platform. Read more »
Echelon Takes the Smart Grid to the Edge
Echelon has launched a new software-hardware combo to control the distribution portion of the grid. The product has two notable aspects: it’s open to third-party developers, and its first customer will be utility Duke Energy. Read more »
Cisco’s Smart Grid Plans For Arch Rock
There’s been plenty of digital ink spilled about Cisco’s purchase of Arch Rock, and its partnership with Itron. But there are other aspects to Cisco’s big smart meter push that bear some study, including the future of Arch Rock’s data center tech. Read more »
Report: PG&E’s Smart Meters Work, but Outreach Lacking
The official verdict is out — Pacific Gas & Electric’s smart meter technology has been working properly, but its customer service hasn’t. That’s the conclusion of a state-ordered report released Thursday from independent analysts at the Structure Group. Read more »
Software, Sensors, Partners Drive Greener Data Centers
There are many tech-paved roads that lead to reduced energy use in data centers, from software-centric solutions to those that put sensors on every server and fan. But the paths to commercializing those technologies are, by comparison, relatively few. Read more »
BuildingIQ’s Smarter Buildings, Now With Demand Response
Mike Zimmerman, the CEO of building automation software startup BuildingIQ, says his company has for the first time met a utility’s demand to turn down power to manage peak load, automatically with a building control system in Perth, Australia. Read more »
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Green IT Overview, Q2 2010
In the second quarter of 2010, greentech startups scored record venture capital and increased spending despite a weak economy. Solar power retained its lead in greentech venture financing, while global investment for clean energy asset financing fell. China, meanwhile, underscored its rising might in the greentech industry, raising billions of dollars in green energy financing. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Report: An Open Source Smart Grid Primer
The smart grid is undergoing a massive shift as utilities move from the existing world of proprietary, standards-based legacy technologies towards an architecture that will require a much greater degree of interoperability and use of open standards. Despite barriers that currently prevent widespread adoption, the fact that it is possible at all to apply open source models is a testament to how far the utility industry has come in the past few years. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Intamac Gets £4M for Home Energy Cloud Computing
Intamac Systems has landed £4 million ($5.8 million) to build up its cloud computing-based system for managing home energy devices, and is looking to both utilities and telecoms to reach into homes. The new money will be used to add new products and services. Read more »
