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 »
With many utilities facing the task of storing petabytes of smart meter data for as long as seven years in order to satisfy regulatory requirements, the ability to house and leverage the massive load of data accumulating from the smart grid is a significant IT challenge. Read more »
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 »
The one-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, which claimed the lives of 19,000 and left another 325,000 without permanent housing, was observed on Sunday. In the wake of the disaster, Japan has reassessed its energy policy, and there’s now a massive cleantech opportunity in the country ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Utility regulators tend to put investments in newer technologies such as smart meters under a microscope. Fortunately policymakers in over 30 states and countries have already found that the benefits of smart meters have exceeded the costs. Read more »
A pioneer of the electric car industry has launched a startup focused on managing the charging of groups of electric cars plugged into the power grid. Read more »
Despite some of the push back from a very vocal but tiny group, smart meters in the U.S. are coming — and fast. According to research group NPD, 75 percent of the electric meters in the U.S. will be smart digital meters by 2016. Read more »
While smart grid networking company Silver Spring Networks announced last week that it had partnered with Japanese giant Hitachi, more details of the financial deal are now public. According to a filing, Silver Spring has raised $30 million in an option and debt from Hitachi. Read more »
While smart grid networking firm Silver Spring Networks has been waiting over half a year for an IPO, the company managed to more than triple its revenues in 2011, according to its latest amended S-1 filing. Read more »
Japanese giant Hitachi and Valley smart grid network provider Silver Spring Networks are teaming up over product development as well as a potential investment. Read more »
We’re at a juncture in the smart grid market where utilities are moving beyond the expected, from the flywheel systems protecting Austin Energy’s new control center to SAIC’s “Smart Grid as a Service” that supports critical energy management systems in Alaskan villages. Read more »
Meter giant Itron has made a rare smart grid acquisition. On Wednesday afternoon Itron announced that it plans to acquire smart grid cellular networking company SmartSynch in a deal worth around $100 million. Read more »
Check out the results of our survey of 200+ GigaOM readers on what they think are the implications of the Honeywell-Nest lawsuit. Read more »
Nest has finally publicly commented on being slapped with a patent infringement lawsuit. Nest says it will “vigorously defend itself,” against Honeywell’s lawsuit, and says it has “the resources, support and conviction to do so.” Read more »
A quiet startup called Greensmith has been building a business out of connecting, controlling and monitoring large batteries installed on the power grid and used for energy storage. Read more »
The solar industry has begun 2012 with some trepidation, with many on the warpath to cut costs and reduce output. These moves give the market a chance to reduce inventories and get production more in sync with demand. But recovery will likely come slowly. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Nearly 7,000 votes later and Smart Grid News has the results of its third annual Smart Grid Companies to Watch search. SGN readers nominated smart grid companies they think should be on our radar in the year ahead, and then the readers voted. The results: Read more »
As the smart grid grows up and reaches its full potential, Adam Lesser, GigaOM Pro green IT analyst, sees five important ways in which how we interact with our utility can be revolutionized and why they matter. Read more »
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 »
Analytics and big data tools will remake energy in 2012, from helping curb energy consumption, to reducing energy loss, to adding in more clean power to the grid. Here’s 10 ways this will happen: Read more »
One of the year’s largest smart grid conferences — DistribuTECH — closes today in San Antonio, Texas. It’s like the CES for utilities, power companies and the vendors that are trying to sell them stuff. Here are the top 10 trends I took away. Read more »
As I’ve been walking the floor at DistribuTECH in San Antonio, Texas — one of the largest smart grid focused conferences of the year — I’ve been snapping pics of the grid connected devices that will deliver a more efficient system and create the Energy Internet. Read more »
Energy software company Opower says it will send its 25 millionth energy data report to a utility customer by the end of January and will likely hit the 75 million mark sometime in 2012. Read more »
Energy software company EnergyHub and weather and sensor network company Earth Networks have teamed up to offer a smart thermostat and demand response program for utilities and consumers. Read more »
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 »
In the telecom and Internet worlds, it’s standard to re-route data over different lines when one path is overloaded. But not so much, when it comes to the power grid. However, a newly-emerged startup called Varentec, backed by Khosla Ventures, is looking to change all that. Read more »
Despite Coda just going into production of its inaugural electric sedan, the startup will announce on Friday it’s launching a division that plans to sell its batteries and battery management system to act as energy storage for the power grid. Read more »
Not all cellular network traffic comes from our cell phones and gadgets; a growing amount will come from machines using these networks to communicate, including the utilities that provide you with power and water. Spring announced a host of new smart grid partnerships on Thursday. Read more »
Energy software startup EnergyHub is powering around 100,000 connected thermostats in the U.S. with its management software, and those thernostats are producing around 5 billion data points each month. What kind of trends will that big data reveal about Americans and energy consumption? Read more »
On Wednesday U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and half a dozen utilities plan to announce the official launch of the Green Button initiative, which will enable utility customers to easily download their energy consumption data with one click. Read more »
Networking giant Cisco held a press event on Tuesday morning showing off a couple of new products for its smart grid initiative, but mostly emphasizing an overall design and architecture for how Cisco sees the entire smart grid network for its potential utility customers. Read more »
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 »
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 »
The Indian government is reportedly looking to back around eight smart grid pilot projects in the country worth close to $100 million. The country will need an updated grid if it’s going to add 20 GW of utility-scale solar by 2020. Read more »
Every year, we try to dig into some of the innovations around energy, batteries, energy-efficient homes and the smart grid at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, and deliver this green guide for your reading pleasure. Read more »
Two recent wins for GE signal not just where GE is headed, but also two important trends for 2012. First, the move to “cloud-based” hosted services is under way in earnest. Second, many of the sector’s biggest players are targeting coops and municipals. Read more »
eMeter’s Chris King explains that like any disruptive technology, the growing flocks of wind turbines and expanding acres of solar-equipped rooftops around the world are causing temporary growing pains for the energy industry. Good thing there are also solutions. Read more »
Here’s on the ground with clean power in India, featuring stories I’ve seen and covered, and what Vineeth Vijayaraghavan of Panchabuta, which is focused on cleantech in India, has been reading and writing on lately. Read more »
As we look toward the next year, the cleantech sector faces many challenges, which we examine in detail in this 2012 outlook. Renewable energy generators encounter an increasingly difficult subsidy environment, and key cleantech innovations like electric vehicles face an uphill climb in terms of connecting ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The hottest item that you probably couldn’t get for Christmas this year was the Nest thermostat, which is sold out until 2012. But I bought one a couple months ago for a Christmas present and the device showed up a couple days before the big day. Read more »
