Smart grid networking company Silver Spring Networks announced on Wednesday that it plans to acquire startup Detectent, which has developed data analytics…
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SunPower backs Tendril & plans to use its energy software
Decade-old energy company Tendril has struck an important deal with giant solar panel maker and project developer SunPower, the companies announced on…
Read MoreAn untold story: What the Nest acquisition means for utilities
Google's purchase of Nest shines a spot light on the crossroads ahead for utilities.…
Read MoreVantagePoint curbs cleantech fund raising due to lack of interest
One of the most aggressive cleantech investors, VantagePoint Capital Partners, has stopped raising its more recent billion dollar cleantech fund. Why? Lack of interest from limited partners, the investors that put money into VC funds. And that's been an ongoing trend.…
Read MoreThe 10 best and worst things to happen to cleantech in 2012
Here's what I think have been the top 10 best, and the top 10 worst, things that have landed on the cleantech scene in 2012. Feel free to add your own in the comments.…
Read MoreIntroducing a big data prediction engine for the power grid
AutoGrid, a startup that's developed a big data analytics engine for energy, officially launched on Monday and unveiled its first product, and its first two customers. Picture if you took Netflix or Amazon's recommendation engines and used them for utilities' energy data.…
Read MoreThe rent is too damn high, but big data means the power bill isn’t
Rent prices are higher than ever, but a growing number of startups are working to analyze our homes' energy use so we can save money by using less power. Their approaches might differ, but data and analytics are the ties that binds them all.…
Read MoreWhy Tendril may (finally) be positioned for growth
Despite layoffs and business model changes, Smart Grid News' Jesse Berst thinks home energy startup Tendril is in a good position for growth.…
Read MoreCrunching energy data down to the fridge
A four-year-old startup called PlotWatt has developed smart algorithms that can crunch energy data down to the appliance level to determine which of your household devices is sucking up more than its fair share of power.…
Read MoreTendril buys Recurve for energy analytics
Energy software company Tendril has snapped up intellectual property, employees and a San Francisco office from Recurve, the startup (formerly called Sustainable Spaces) which develops and sells software to help energy auditors determine the most cost-efficient energy efficiency measures for their customers.…
Read MoreTendril 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 MoreThe 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 MoreSiemens 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 MoreThe next home energy battleground: the smart thermostat
Fancy dashboards that can monitor and control a home's energy consumption haven't really caught on. But maybe that's because the dashboard is the wrong device. Increasingly companies building home energy tools are focusing on making software for connected thermostats.…
Read MoreEnergyHub raises $14.5M to market energy management tools to consumers
Peddling home energy management gear and software successfully is harder than it seems, and big companies such as Microsoft and Cisco are ditching this market. EnergyHub is staying and on Thursday announced a $14.5 million round to help it sell products and services to consumers.…
Read MoreWhy Internet companies are abandoning home energy plans
Throughout 2009 and 2010, Internet companies like Microsoft, Google and even router giant Cisco launched experimental software and hardware to help building managers and home owners monitor and control their energy consumption. But now these firms are abandoning those plans. Why?…
Read MoreiControl raises $50M from Intel, Cisco, Comcast, Kleiner
On the heels of Silion Valley startup iControl securing a deal to provide its software for Comcast's new home security and energy management service, iControl announced that it has raised another $50 million in a Series D round from its long list of high profile investors…
Read MoreSiemens backs home energy startup Tendril
Power gear giant Siemens announced on Monday that it has invested in, and will also market technologies from, home energy startup Tendril. Tendril sells software and devices that monitor and manage the home energy consumption of consumers.…
Read MoreThe battle heats up for California’s energy privacy rules
California’s groundbreaking set of rules on utility customer energy data are facing comment from the smart grid industry this week, and there’s still plenty of confusion over the fine print. In short, CPUC’s rules will need to change to avoid stifling the smart grid-home energy marketplace.…
Read MoreHow Federal Legislation Could Change Digital Energy Data
Will utility customers across the U.S. be legally entitled to their own energy usage data? We’ve already seen how California is planning to tackle that tricky subject, and a Senate bill announced last week would bring the same issues to a national stage.…
Read MoreThe Evolution of Home Energy Management
Tendril Networks is finally seeing some of its dozens of utility pilots blossom into full-scale commercial deployments numbering in the millions of homes. But where does Tendril’s classic model of in-home devices linked to smart meters fit into today’s brave new world of home energy management?…
Read MoreOPower Ponders an Energy Device
OPower, the startup that gets homeowners to cut energy use with out in-home dashboards and gateways, is looking at home energy automation devices. What are the pros and cons of high-tech automation versus smart behavioral science?…
Read MorePHOTOS: Energy Gadgets from Distributech!
The annual smart grid show Distributech, held this week, was chock full of energy gadgets for consumers and utilities to manage home energy consumption. Will any of these succeed, and which one is your favorite? Check out our photo slide show!…
Read MoreSchneider Electric’s Simple Take on Home Energy Management
Schneider Electric launched a bare bones, utility-centric line of home energy management gear on Tuesday, staking its claim to the residential energy market on the premise that homeowners will choose elegant simplicity over flashy high-tech.…
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