Why Siemens has had a hard time selling its solar tech
Siemens is planning a big layoff after it couldn’t find a buyer for its solar thermal technology, for which it paid $418 million in 2009. Read more »
European power giant E.ON partners with Ericsson on grid big data
Power grid operators and utilities are increasingly turning to big data analytics and tools. This week European power giant E.ON said it plans to work with Ericsson for a smart meter data project in Sweden. Read more »
Siemens and Teradata team up over grid big data
Utilities are increasingly embracing the tools needed to manage big data, and on Monday data warehouse software firm Teradata said it’s teamed up with power grid giant Siemens for a better way to manage the massive data flowing off the smart grid. Read more »
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Building energy management systems: overview and forecast
Although there has been a focus on energy efficiency in commercial buildings for some years, the BEMS market can still be considered nascent. The landscape of new entrants, new technologies, and new methodologies is expanding rapidly, and even well-established market leaders are finding new ways to present and market their businesses. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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How energy data will impact the smart grid
The deployment of smart meters combined with the growth of cloud computing infrastructure has created opportunities to build business models around the volume of emerging energy data. Those who use data to solve customer problems and leverage decades of software development and advances in big data will attract investment dollars. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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The growth and promise of the LED market
LED production has grown tremendously, accompanied by a significant fall in prices that will further propel the sale of this energy-efficient digital-lighting technology. But challenges remain on the road to widespread adoption. Figuring out ways to use power efficiently for lighting will be crucial for a future when the world’s population will likely be much larger. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
How to keep innovation alive in the smart grid
Keeping the innovation ecosystem alive in the smart grid will depend on the big players like Silver Spring taking an active role working with startups. Read more »
Energy giants back BuildingIQ and its machine learning, energy data software
Data and machine learning are breakthroughs for the energy efficiency of buildings. Startup BuildingIQ is using these tools to grow its building energy optimization business, and it’s just brought on some major energy industry backers. Read more »
Google invests $200M in Texas wind farm, backed a Hoover Dam worth of clean power
Google has now invested in a Hoover Dam’s worth — or 2 GW — of clean power. The latest investment, announced on Wednesday is a $200 million equity stake into a wind farm in Texas. Read more »
Wind power embraces the circuit board design, via a startup
A Colorado startup has come up a light-weight motor for wind turbine generators that borrows the design of a printed circuit board. Boulder Wind Power is lining up its first customer that plans to give its technology a try. Read more »
The solar saga continues: Siemens flees solar market
Energy giant Siemens is leaving the solar market after investing heavily in solar technology and power plant construction. The decision is bad news for startups looking for corporate VCs. Read more »
10 solar projects in India that can help fight grid blackouts
While the massive blackouts in India are focusing attention on the opportunities for clean power in India, the country already has many solar projects under way. Here are some of the most notable and promising efforts. Read more »
5 smart energy projects with big potential
Today’s itinerary takes us to Arizona, where researchers have developed a mirror technology they hope can make solar competitive. Next stop is a city in Massachusetts, which is a poster child for energy efficiency savings that other cash-strapped cities may find instructive; Plus three other projects. Read more »
SCADA is dead, long live IP
There is no mistaking that SCADA (traditional control networks for utilities) is under assault. Over the past several years, wireless IP-based communication networks have proven to be worthy for distribution automation applications. Read more »
The next hot smart grid market: Brazil
photo: Flickr / gaby_bra
With its booming economy, growing middle class and investments in city infrastructure, Brazil is looking to be the next hot market for smart grid development. Read more »
China building super highway for clean power
China likes to do things on a grand scale, which allows it serve its vast population spreading out in huge regions and brag about its technical advancements. Here comes another one: the country is now building a transmission line with a whopping 800-kilovolt of capacity that will ferry wind and solar power over 2,210 kilometers (1,373 miles). Read more »
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Ups and downs for cleantech in Q1
This quarter the EV market struggled to find its footing. Meanwhile, the smart-grid sector solidified and low-power technology proved itself important in the data center. Read more to learn what these news pieces and others mean for the larger space over the next few months. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Key technologies for the smart city
Five key technology sectors are enabling the smart city: smart grids, smart transport, smart water and waste management, smart building systems, and the enabling ICT platforms for the smart city. Key players like IT companies, telcos and utilities must learn how to harness those technologies, and quickly. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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A near-term outlook for big data
Big data now touches everything from enterprises to smart-meter startups, while Hadoop is fast becoming the leading tool to analyze that data, and debates around privacy abound. GigaOM Pro analysts offer insights on what to consider when it comes to big data decisions for your business. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Big data meets the smart grid
Many have predicted a “big data tsunami” that will transform the energy sector and open an entirely new market for smart-grid data analytics. Stepping into the fray is the next generation of smart-grid companies poised to use data to change energy consumption. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tough for Telefónica as Euro mobile goes down the pan
Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica — the world’s third-largest mobile firm — saw profits cut in half after a troubled year. With Nokia, Siemens and Deutsche Telekom all facing a torrid time, is the writing on the wall for Europe’s mobile businesses? Read more »
Siemens, ABB make major grid gear plays
Not all the opportunities in the smart grid are about big data and analytics. Power gear giants Siemens and ABB unveiled separately that they plan to make large grid gear acquisitions. Siemens will buy RuggedCom, and ABB will buy Thomas & Betts Corp. Read more »
Tendril test-drives its electric car software with BMW
After a variety of strategies and around $100 million in funding, startup Tendril is now largely a software company, and on Tuesday at the DistribuTECH conference in San Antonio, Tendril announced a big partner in its play to provide the software layer for electric vehicles: BMW. Read more »
Nokia Siemens reaches for a $1.6 billion lifeline
With no more money from its corporate parents forthcoming and few remaining businesses to sell, Nokia Siemens Networks has gone to European and U.S. banks for the funding it needs to restructure and survive. Will $1.6 million be enough to set it on course? Read more »
2012: Questions on the road ahead to the smart grid
Last week eMeter’s Chris King shared his smart grid predictions for 2012. But also, as the new year turns, he says he’s pondering these important questions, too: Read more »
Landis+Gyr snaps up Ecologic Analytics for grid big data
Meter giant Landis+Gyr has snapped up smart meter data management company Ecologic Analytics, the companies announced on Tuesday. Ecologic Analytics has been around for over a decade, and Landis + Gyr was already a minority shareholder in the firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more »
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Why the future of smart meters is data, not hardware
It is becoming abundantly apparent that, while there is still focus on install rates of physical smart meters, what will matter in the future is how well the data from these smart meters can be secured by utilities and how well utilities can use that data ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
NSN sells wireline business to Adtran. Here is why.
Nokia Siemens Networks said it will sell its wireline broadband assets to ADTRAN for an undisclosed amount. The deal is the second in as many months for NSN, which had previously been hoping to find a buyer for the whole business. Read more »
How to sell a smart grid startup: act like enterprise software
One of the key ways that eMeter has developed over the past 20 months since its current CEO Gary Bloom came on board has been to act like an enterprise software company, according to an indepth interview with Bloom in Xconomy. It’s a solid tip. Read more »
The smart grid acquisition tally to date
For the occasion of Siemens’ swallowing eMeter, we have pulled together our recurring smart grid acquisitions list, including the new ones we have seen in recent months. Read more »
Greentech struggles are business as usual for the Valley
Do recent struggles dominating the news represent the beginning of the end for green technology? Nah, it looks like business as usual for Silicon Valley. Only one in ten start-ups ever make it, VCs like to say, and failure makes you stronger. Read more »
Siemens to buy smart grid software company eMeter
Power and engineering giant Siemens will buy smart meter software company eMeter, the companies announced on Monday. While the companies did not disclose the price, this is one of the most high-profile deals for the smart grid in 2011. Read more »
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Cleantech, meet connectivity: a new era of energy efficiency
The momentum right now in cleantech is as much about connectivity and how it can drive energy efficiency as it is about advancing sources of renewable energy. And as the web and mobile connectivity change our consumer experiences, the opportunities to redefine cleantech are rich, and they are already happening. This research note examines the cleantech space in that context and analyzes the car-sharing, home-energy-management and smart-grid sectors and their relevant companies to see how connectivity will play into their future endeavors. Companies mentioned in this report include RelayRides, Opower, Silver Spring Networks and Nest. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Connected world: the consumer technology revolution
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Today in Green IT: Nuclear power fades in Germany, Japan
Now for Today in Green IT, news, notes and musing from our GigaOM Pro Green IT analyst Adam Lesser. Nuclear power is falling in Germany and Japan, as corporations follow suit from country-wide protests and anti-nuclear politics. Read more »
7 ways the military is embracing cleantech
The U.S. military has stepped up efforts to invest and use more cleantech at its bases and battlefields, including renewable electricity, energy storage and a host of energy efficiency technologies. Here is a list of plans and projects underway. Read more »
Nokia Siemens Networks throws in the towel on sale
Looks like Nokia and Siemens are stuck with their joint venture in a telecommunications equipment company. Nokia Siemens Networks Wednesday said it had completed its review of private equity bids and decided to recommit to each other. Read more »
First GSM call was made 20 years ago today
Today is the 20th birthday of the first GSM phone call, which in many ways was the start of the global wireless revolution. GSM was adopted in 1987 as a standard. More than 4.4 billion people use phones based on GSM today. Read more »
Nokia Siemens is up against the wall
Nokia Siemens Networks, the telecommunications gear joint venture, is running out of options. The Wall Street Journal reported that the companies couldn’t find a private equity buyer for the gear maker and that the companies were thinking of putting more money into the entity. Read more »
How vehicle-to-grid technology could get past the pilot stage
U.S. startup Nuvve is setting its sights on the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) market with a 30-car project in Denmark that it says will sell plug-in car battery power to help stabilize the grid. Can the model scale? Read more »
