As the planet reaches 9 billion people by 2050, technologies that reduce energy and water needs for farming will become increasingly important. A Silicon Valley startup called mOasis is working on materials that can help farmers produce more crops with less energy and water. Read more »
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 »
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 »
A wireless smart grid networking tech that is supposed to be able to reach many miles with little infrastructure and at a low price point, is ramping up funding. That would be startup On-Ramp Wireless, which has raised $11.5 million of a planned $15 million round. Read more »
Itron and Tropos Networks say they can roll smart meter neighborhood networks and backhaul networks into one system, and they’ve landed Michigan utility DTE to try it out. Read more »
Can the municipal Wi-Fi concept make the leap to all-inclusive smart grid communications solution? Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Tropos Networks is trying it out, and unveiled new products and networking architecture Monday morning for everything from super-fast distribution automation gear to millions of smart meters. Read more »
Greentech marked its best year ever in 2010, and part of that is thanks to the wealth of activity across sectors during the fourth quarter. Global investment in clean energy surged, and while wind power remained the biggest greentech area, solar power saw the fastest growth. The energy efficiency sector appears to have more room for smaller players to make their mark amidst a rapidly maturing market. Meanwhile, China’s stance as a growing greentech giant continued to complicate its relationship with the United States. Companies mentioned in this report include General Electric, Intel, ZigBee, iControl, People Power and EnerNOC. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Despite some setbacks, the U.S. smart meter push is continuing at a stimulus-fueled pace. Pike Research reported Monday that more than 90 U.S. utilities have 57.9 million smart meters planned and on the way.That’s 7.9 million more than eMeter counted up. Read more »
Trilliant has hopped the pond in a big way. The smart grid networking provider announced late Wednesday that British Gas has picked it for its smart meter deployment, starting with 1 million meters to be deployed by 2012. Read more »
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 »
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 »
Smart grid startups have gotten more investment commitments this week than they have over the entire first quarter. On the heels of the $200 million smart grid pledge from GE and VCs, on Thursday smart grid firm Trilliant announced that it has raised $106 million. Read more »
Google today is unveiling a rewritten Google Docs, tweaked to present information in real time as well as to enable better syncing across browsers — the goal being to persuade CIOs that instead of upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010 they should switch to Google Docs. Read more »
Despite the build out of smart grid infrastructure, there’s still a variety questions that remain unanswered when it comes to just what will a next-generation smart grid network look like? Here’s 5 points of debate that we’ll be addressing at our Green:Net conference on April 29: Read more »
Distributech, the once-sleepy power grid trade show, has been transformed into a high-profile smart grid showcase over the past couple of years — this year’s show in Tampa, Fla. is no exception. Here’s 10 things you should pay attention to coming outta Distributech this year. Read more »
It’s always been hard to explain IBM’s role in the smart grid — the computing company has its hands in dozens of utility smart grid deals by way of software that can act as a facilitator for smart grid buildouts. This morning IBM detailed a bit […] Read more »
Solyndra Snags $238M Umwelt Deal: Solyndra, which makes cylindrical, thin film photovoltaic systems, has won a supply deal with Germany-based solar integrator Umwelt-Sonne-Energie GmbH worth up to $238 million through 2013. — Press Release Tesla Overseas: Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the right-hand-drive electric Roadster will […] Read more »
Several years ago I closely covered the muni Wi-Fi fad: city-wide wireless that was supposed to (and often failed) to offer consumers a cheaper wireless option than those offered by phone and cable companies. Now the next new thing in wireless — the smart grid — […] Read more »
The UK government today unveiled a plan to outfit most of the homes and small businesses in England, Scotland, and Wales with smart meters by the end of 2020. The plan, which could cost an estimated £8.11 billion ($12.3 billion) and involve some 50 million gas […] Read more »
Some of the largest unresolved questions within today’s nascent smart grid market are to what degree consumers would prefer to actively monitor and control energy usage in their homes, which user interfaces will be preferred for those purposes, and which business models and product capabilities will entice consumers to engage in home energy management while simultaneously assuaging their concerns about privacy, security and control. To investigate these questions and establish a framework for understanding demand dynamics within the EID and DR markets, Pike Research conducted a survey of 1,041 U.S. consumers in April 2009. The results of this survey are analyzed in this report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
