Smart Energy News

Siemens Smart Grid Innovation Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 09:33:00 +0000

The Smart Grid Innovation Contest is an open international competition to find new, sustainable Smart Grid business models and technologies for the near future.

Siemens believes in the future of the Smart Grid for a more sustainable world – a vision of intelligent, flexibly controllable power generation, distribution, and consumption. The breakthrough of Smart Grid applications, though, strongly depends on attractive business models that combine technologies and economic benefits.
The Smart Grid Innovation Contest consists of two phases: during the first phase, ideas are generated and developed in a collaborative community. In the second phase, universities are invited to submit research proposals to further elaborate and develop ideas.

Idea contest (for everyone) from April 13 to May 31 2011

Call for proposals (for universities) from October 4 to November 30, 2011. Siemens will award €15,000 and a workshop trip to Berlin together with Siemens Smart Grid experts to the five best ideas and the most valuable contributions. In a joint effort with several universities, more than €1,000,000 will be invested to translate the participants’ ideas into innovation. The contest addresses your creativity and your local expertise in making energy systems smarter and more environmentally friendly.

Watch an idea grow, through suggestions, comments and ranking, into mature and realistic innovation!

Full competition details and rules at:
http://www.siemens.com/smartgridcontest

Google investing in wind farm

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:21:00 +0000

Found at the official Google blog:

On Friday we made our first direct investment in a utility-scale renewable energy project — two wind farms that generate 169.5 megawatts of power, enough to power more than 55,000 homes. These wind farms, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, harness power from one of the world’s richest wind resources in the North Dakota plains and use existing transmission capacity to deliver clean energy to the region, reducing the use of fossil fuels. Through this $38.8 million investment, we’re aiming to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy — in a way that makes good business sense, too.

To reach a clean energy future, we need three things: effective policy, innovative technology and smart capital. Through our philanthropic arm Google.org, we’ve been pushing for energy policies that strengthen the innovation pipeline, and we’ve been dedicating resources to developing new technologies, including making investments in early-stage renewable energy companies such as eSolar and AltaRock. Smart capital includes not only these early-stage company investments, but also dedicated funding for utility-scale projects. To tackle this need, we’ve been looking at investments in renewable energy projects, like the one we just signed, that can accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while providing attractive returns to Google and more capital for developers to build additional projects.

Microsoft Hohm to Connect with Devices this Summer, One Day Offer Its Own?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:25:00 +0000

earth2tech posted an article about Microsoft Hohm news:

By this summer you can expect to find the first energy devices — smart meters, energy management dashboards, connected thermostats — that can link with Microsoft’s online energy management tool Hohm. Troy Batterberry, Microsoft’s product unit manager of its Energy Management & Home Automation division, told us in an interview on Tuesday that Microsoft has just released the software developer kit for Hohm to third party device makers and he is expecting Hohm to connect with devices– likely smart meters first — this summer. Batterberry also told us Microsoft “might” even one day develop its own Microsoft-branded energy hardware, but for now is focused on connecting with third party gadget makers.

Read the full article…

Google Releases API for Energy Tool PowerMeter

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:22:00 +0000

Google PowerMeter now goes live:

Another small step for empowered and open access to energy data. Search engine giant Google announced on Wednesday that it has released the API (application programming interface) for its energy tool PowerMeter. Opening up the API means that gadget makers can now freely integrate with PowerMeter — previously Google had only been working with a small amount of select device manufacturers for PowerMeter like Energy Inc’s The Energy Detective.

Read the full story…

Microsoft MVP Award 2010 – Thank you!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:11:00 +0000

Reading my mails today:

Dear Michael Schwarz,

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2010 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in .NET Micro Framework technical communities during the past year.

The Microsoft MVP Award provides us the unique opportunity to celebrate and honor your significant contributions and say "Thank you for your technical leadership."

Now, this is my fifth MVP year started in 2006 with the Microsoft MVP in Visual Studio Development / ASP.NET. I’m really surprised that I got the MVP award again. Thank you Microsoft, a big thank you to all of you!!

2010 will be a great year with new great products! I hope I can still give my best to you and help supporting Microsoft products.

Free Webcast on Smart Energy Reference Architecture

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Microsoft and OSIsoft Present a Free Webcast on Smart Energy Reference Architecture:

In order to assist the 2010 planning the has begun in earnest at every utility company around the world, Microsoft and our partner OSIsoft are offering a complimentary Webcast on our Smart Energy Reference Architecture, on Tuesday, December 8 at 1 p.m. EST.

Microsoft’s SERA is intended specifically for working groups and utility executives who are focused on developing their utility’s smart grid blueprint. I believe they will discover SERA to be required reading for their transformation projects, as it provides a blueprint for testing the alignment of new smart grid information technology that’s available now with their existing business processes. The larger effort should be to create an integrated utility that makes the most of the new data coming from the smart grid data stream that’s about to come rushing into every utility.

More details from the registration page:

The Microsoft SERA is intended specifically for working groups and utility executives who are focused on developing their utility's smart grid blueprint. We believe they'll find SERA to be required reading because it offers a specific vision, providing a method of testing the alignment of information technology with their business processes to create an integrated utility. Please join us for this webcast to understand more about SERA and how OSIsoft can help enable your utilities organization to:

Identify and solve the integration issues facing grid and energy ecosystem advancement using the SERA road map.

Prepare for exponential increase in real-time data required to provide consumers and businesses with the tools to make timely decisions related to their power usage.

Understand the alignment of your information technology infrastructure with your business processes.

Click here to register for this Webcast.

Source: Microsoft Power and Utilities Blog

SmartPrivacy for the Smart Grid - Embedding Privacy into the Design of Electricity Conservation

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:09:00 +0000

From the foreword of the study about SmartPrivacy for the Smart Grid:

Recognizing that a multiplicity of forces act upon an organization’s ability to protect its customer’s data or subject’s privacy, I developed the term SmartPrivacy to describe the holistic approach necessary to realizing the objective of all encompassing data protection.

SmartPrivacy represents a broad arsenal of protections, encapsulating everything necessary to ensure that all of the personal information held by an organization is appropriately managed. These include: Privacy by Design; law, regulation and independent oversight; accountability and transparency; market forces; education and awareness; social norms; data security; and fair information practices. Each of these elements is important, but my concept of Privacy by Design represents its sine qua non. Those who fail to envision privacy requirements early in the development of technology, business practices or physical space and infrastructure will be less likely to provide comprehensive protection, despite the presence of the other elements.

Privacy by Design or PbD is a concept I developed in the ‘90s. Building on the elements discussed, it ensures the protection of privacy through the use of privacy-enhancing technologies — embedding them into the design specifications of information technology, business practices, physical environments and infrastructure — making privacy the default. Recently, I evolved the concept of PETs, extending it to PETs Plus by adding a new dimension of a positive-sum paradigm to replace the traditional zero-sum approach. Building on PETs Plus we advance the view that it is not necessary to trade off privacy against equally important goals such as security, transparency or other functionality.

Have a look at this document: Smart Privacy for the Smart Grid

You may also be interested in Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements.

Wind Power in Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

I found interesting on Wikipedia:

In Bavaria, Germany, we have a new wind power park producing renewable energy: Clean power for more than 25 million people and 90,000 new jobs in the wind

Germany, Mexico, US top smart energy list

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:25:00 +0000

Germany, Mexico and the United States have crafted some of the world's smartest policies for improving energy use, according to a study released on Thursday on the sidelines of the UN climate talks here.

Making buildings more energy-efficient and providing tax breaks and tariff guarantees for renewable sources topped the "green new deal" policies scrutinized by two environment groups.

[…]

Germany grabbed the top two spots with a program to beef up energy efficiency in buildings through tougher construction standards supported by loans and grants, and with a "feed-in tariff" by which suppliers of renewable energy enjoy guaranteed price levels for 20 years.The two initiatives scored 17.2 and 15.0 points out of 20, respectively.

Mexico came next with an urban bus system launched in Mexico City in 2005 that started to phase out creaky old buses. Even though the program was low technology, its environmental and economic effectiveness was extremely high when compared with the investment, earning 14.2 points out of 20.

In third place was the United States, which won plaudits for its "weatherization assistance program" to insulate the homes of low-income families, and for its tax breaks for energy from wind, solar, geothermal and bio-energy. These rated 13.8 and 13.7 points respectively.

[…]

Read the full story at physorg.com…

Smart Homes, Smart Grid, and Not-so-Smart Consumer Electronics Association

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:19:00 +0000

There was plenty of “whine” on November 4, or to be exact, at 4:55PM on November 3, when the CEA sent a 91 page document 5 minutes ahead of the 5:00PM deadline for comments on the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) proposed TV energy efficiency standards. In order to review this and other comments that arrived at this 11th hour, the CEC has postponed its hearing until November 18th.

The CEA comments oppose the proposed standards, citing that energy efficiency standards would increase the price of TVs. According to this industry association, the average digital TV uses the same electricity as two light bulbs – incandescent light bulbs. The average 42 inch LCD TV consumes 203 watts, and the average 42 inch plasma TV guzzles 271 watts. The average California home has three TVs. It appears that the CEA is strongly advocating for not only increased operating costs for consumers, but also construction of more expensive power plants and increased electricity rates to pay for increased power generation.

It’s a shame that the CEA can’t take the bold step of working cooperatively with the CEC to reduce consumers’ operating costs of TVs and reduce carbon footprints as well.

Read the full story at Smart Grid Library…

Could Car Batteries Back up Our Electrical Grid?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Today I read this interesting article:

In the quest to supply electricity for millions of future electric cars, engineers have stumbled upon the most unlikely of energy prospects — the car itself.

If that sounds like a bit of tangled logic to you, then you're not alone. The very idea leaves most intelligent people scratching their heads.

Still, the concept is being examined by auto companies, utilities, universities and industry consultants. And many believe the electric car battery could turn out to be one of the most important sources of current for ... well, the electric car battery.

"This is very doable," says David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research and one of the industry's most respected consultants. "We're still in the early stages because we don't have high-volume battery production yet. But when that occurs, everything will change."

[…]

Still, automotive experts say they're optimistic over the long term.

"The technology is here; no invention is necessary," Cole says. "Don't bet against it."

Read the full story at designnews.com.

Partnership with Google PowerMeter – backordered on all TED 5000 models

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Some weeks ago The Energy Detective (TED) announced their new model TED 5000. Because of the overwhelming demand since their release and the partnership with Google PowerMeter they are presently backordered on all TED 5000 models. At this time, tehy expect a delivery in 3-6 weeks.

“Smart Meters” are designed primarily for the electric utility industry so they can better manage the supply-and-demand of electricity. TED is designed specifically for the consumer, so that one can better manage the use and costs of electricity. TED puts YOU in charge.

The next generation in home energy monitoring, the TED 5000 Series provides all the benefits of the TED 1000 series along with a new look and improved functionality. Featuring a sleek handheld display unit and the brand new Gateway component, the TED 5000 system provides all the information any energy-conscious homeowner can dream of with added accessibility and feedback!

The complete TED 5000 system includes one Gateway, one pair of CTs, one MTU, and the optional TED 5000 Display. Users who choose to simply access their data via computer can opt for a display-free system.

See more details on the product overview… and check out the live demo.

IEC 61850 running on Embedded Device

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:17:00 +0000

I’m currently working on implementing IEC 61850 from scratch on a embedded device running Microsoft .NET Micro Framework. Hey, that really is working already to get a model from the device.

During the next days I will add reading the first variable. I plan to connect the device to the Internet that anybody can try it.

Smart Energy brave financial crisis – Do you invest in Smart Energy?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:13:00 +0000

During the last days I noticed many announcements concerning Smart Grid / Energy. Have a look at following news stories:

Wisconsin gets $21.5M in “smart grid” funds (Milwaukee Business Journal): Three Wisconsin utilities will share $21.5 million in federal funds under a multibillion-dollar “smart” energy grid effort launched by the Obama…
The White House: President Obama Announces $3.4 Billion Investment to Spur Transition to Smart Energy Grid. Applicants say investments will create tens of thousands of jobs, save energy and empower consumers to cut their electric bills…
President Obama Announces Smart Grid Plans (EvergreenPower): Obama announced that 100 private companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and others will receive grants of between $400000 and $200 million to help build a nationwide “smart energy grid” that will cut costs for consumers and make…
DOE awards SDG&E $28.1 million to install smart grid infrastructure: The push to make San Diego the world's first region to implement smart energy grid technology was bolstered Tuesday…
Above Average Jane: PECO Smart Energy Grid… praised the announcement by the White House that PECO (Philadelphia Energy Company) will receive a $200 million grant for Smart Energy Grid technology under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,…
Electric companies to receive $21 million (Badger Herald): The AMI technology creates smart energy meters, which send digital information to energy companies and will eventually allow consumers to check their energy…
The US Department of Energy (DoE) has realized that EDUCATION is key for the success in implementing a Smart(er) Grid. It spends $ 100,000,000 for various measures to improve the Knowledge, Understanding, and Application of advanced information and communication technologies!! The earlier you start with the training - the better.

EU should create venture capital fund, say experts

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:31:00 +0000

The European Investment Fund (EIF) should be expanded to fund corporate ventures and innovation projects, according to a panel of experts brought together by the EU executive.

The group, which includes policymakers and leading thinkers from the world of innovation, said the EIF should be used to accelerate pan-European venture capital funds. The EIF's role should be broadened to create funds "with the critical mass of resources and expertise to operate on a transnational basis funds and specialise in future growth markets". […]

On a practical note, the report says every household, business and public building in Europe should have "ultrafast" broadband and smart energy grid connections.

Read the full story at EurActive.com…

Advanced Metering Infrastructure for Victoria

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:28:00 +0000

Smart meters are being rolled out to all Victorian households and small businesses over the next four years to help people better manage their energy use and cut carbon emissions.

The new smart meters - also known as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) - will provide two-way communication between your electricity meter and your power company, making more immediate information about your electricity use available to you both.

Victoria is the first state in Australia to give the go-ahead for the wide spread roll-out of smart meters. Covering 2.2 million homes and 300,000 businesses, this is a big task, representing one of the biggest improvements to energy infrastructure in the state’s history.
It’s a key step towards future smart electricity grids, which we need so that more renewable energy can be fed into the grid.

The meters will allow customers to access accurate electricity reads every 30 minutes, which helps to monitor and reduce electricity usage - and save money on power bills.

It will be easier to connect and disconnect power when you move house, and power companies will be able to identify outages and restore power more quickly. It will also mean the end of estimated bills or staying in for meter readings.

Electricity distribution companies - who own the poles and wires which deliver electricity to your homes and businesses - will start installing meters towards the end of 2009 and finish by the end of 2013.

Really interesting, read the role of government and more about smart meters fact sheet on DPI’s Web site.

Consumer understanding of energy terms falls

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:37:00 +0000

New survey finds many US consumers do not understand the terms energy firms are using to promote smart grid and energy efficiency initiatives:

While most consumers view "energy efficiency", "smart energy" and "energy conservation" as positive concepts, few fully understand what those and other energy-related terms mean, according to a recent survey.

Marketing agency EcoAlign recently conducted its sixth EcoPinion survey, testing 1,000 US consumers' awareness, understanding and acceptance of phrases like "energy efficiency," "demand response" and "clean energy".

Read the full story at BusinessGreen.com…

Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:35:00 +0000

With the launch of Software Architecture for Integrated Utility of the Future Microsoft offers a download of the reference to articulate an industry vision for the smart energy ecosystem.

The Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture is designed to maximize agility and enable role-based productivity while ensuring secure IT and operations with the very best ROI for all participants of the smart energy ecosystem, both now and as system requirements expand to meet the increasing complexities of the market.

Download Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture.pdf (6.4 MB, 10/14/2009).

The Coming Energy Revolution – Decentralizing Electricity

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:29:00 +0000

Read this morning on Spiegel Online (international):

Electric cars, intelligent washing machines, mini power plants in your basement: Germany is on the verge of an energy revolution. SPIEGEL ONLINE looks at the latest developments in the smart grid and how it will change the relationship between consumers and energy suppliers.[…]

The electricity age is imminent in six German regions: The technology of the future for smart energy management is going to be developed and tested, under the label E-Energy, in several cities. […]

Together with firms like Siemens, SAP, IBM and energy giants like EnBW, RWE and Vattenfall, Germany's economics and environment ministries have already mobilized €140 million for the development of the associated technologies and the tests. The government has provided €60 million and the industrial partners are raising the rest together with public utilities and smaller, innovative technology partners.

Read the full stories at spiegel.de:

What is Google PowerMeter?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Google PowerMeter is a free electricity usage monitoring tool that provides you with information on how much energy your home is consuming. Google PowerMeter receives information from utility smart meters and in-home energy management devices and visualizes this information for you on iGoogle (your personalized Google homepage). And, Google PowerMeter is free.

Google’s initial partners include meter manufacturers, strategic partners, and a variety of utilities from around the world:

If you’re interessted and want to work with Google PowerMeter visit http://www.google.org/powermeter/partners.html.

What is Microsoft Hohm?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Microsoft Hohm is a free Web-based beta application that helps you save energy and money. With Microsoft Hohm you can better understand your home energy usage, get recommendations to conserve energy and start saving.
Hohm uses advanced analytics licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy to give you highly personalized energy saving recommendations. These recommendations are tailored based on your specific household circumstances including home attributes and use of appliances and systems. You will also be able to compare your energy usage that of with others in your area. Hohm helps utilities to better serve their customers by providing clear insight into their energy consumption, allowing them to make more informed decisions to save energy and money.

Hohm is currently only available in the US.

Microsoft Launches Software Architecture for Integrated Utility of the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:38:00 +0000

Microsoft today announced it has developed a reference architecture based on familiar, cost-effective Microsoft platforms that can serve as the basis for development of the “integrated utility of the future.”

The Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture (SERA) is Microsoft’s first comprehensive reference architecture that addresses technology integration throughout the full scope of the smart energy ecosystem. The Microsoft SERA helps utilities by providing a method of testing the alignment of information technology with their business processes to create an integrated utility. This is the second utility offering to be released from Microsoft in four months, following the announcement of Microsoft Hohm, an online application developed to enhance the experience of utilities’ customers and provide further insight into the supply and demand of residential energy use.

As utilities attempt to develop new projects that are funded by national smart grid stimulus programs, they will need sound, tested technologies that help them proceed. Using Microsoft and industry partners’ technologies, utilities will be able to implement solutions faster and more reliably than they could with solutions offered by competitors.

The Microsoft SERA has been endorsed by a number of global solutions providers whose energy industry solutions span the entire energy ecosystem — from the power grid to the home. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners supporting SERA include Accenture, Alstom Power, AREVA, ESRI, Itron Inc. and OSIsoft Inc.

Significantly, Microsoft has been working closely with key power industry partners to ensure that SERA addresses power utilities’ IT infrastructure needs. Alstom Power, for example, has demonstrated its commitment to Microsoft by fully embracing SERA and sees this move as the first step in providing solutions for the new challenge raised by smart grids.

“Alstom has established a long-term relationship with Microsoft in order to provide cost-efficient, scalable architectures for electrical producers like solar, hydro, wind, coal, steam or nuclear power plants,” said Laurent Demortier, senior vice president of Alstom Power’s Energy Management Business. “This Microsoft reference architecture accelerates solution development to enable developers to provide enhanced, more cost-effective, secure and scalable solutions.”

Customers such as Fujairah F2 O&M Company Ltd. are seeing the benefits of solutions built according to an architecture that provides the alignment of IT with their business processes. “Developing a quality ALSPA Series DCS system for such a large and complex plant like ours is not that easy, and the Alstom team has responded to that great challenge in an exceptional manner,” said Soloman Premline Prince, production manager, Fujairah F2 O&M Company.

“Utility industry executives who are concerned about changing their business models to ones that enable a smarter energy ecosystem will view Microsoft as a partner of choice because of its current strengths within their technology regimes as well as our solutions’ adaptability to future, sometimes unknown, conditions and business environment needs,” said Larry Cochrane, Worldwide Utilities Industry technology strategist/architect, Microsoft. “The Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture represents our continuing commitment to our utility industry customers and our holistic vision of how the smart grid fits into the much larger energy ecosystem that’s evolving daily.”

The Microsoft SERA for the smart energy ecosystem will help create a world where thousands of smart devices can seamlessly plug into the grid thanks to common standards and interoperability frameworks, just as the plug-and-play model allows thousands of devices to seamlessly plug into PCs today.

Consequently, utility industry systems integrators such as Accenture are leading proponents of the Microsoft SERA for smart grids.

“Microsoft’s reference architecture provides an end-to-end solution that can position utilities to take operational performance and customer response to a higher level,” said Greg Guthridge, utilities customer service practice lead at Accenture. “Their integrated architecture leverages proven Microsoft platforms to support new smart processes and customer support capabilities. Innovative solutions, especially in the area of visualization and analytics, support important new capabilities in a smart-enabled energy services organization.”

As a result, the grid and the broader energy ecosystem can achieve the vision of becoming smarter as companies inject Microsoft and industry partners’ software into the various control points in the power system, so that households and businesses have ready access to timely, user-friendly information that eventually can help them make more rational choices about their energy use.

The Microsoft SERA provides a road map for utilities to help identify and solve the integration issues facing grid and energy ecosystem advancement. It also empowers users to drive improvements in real time, as well as to accelerate continuous improvement over time.

For utility industry-specific information:

Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/utilities and http://www.microsoft-hohm.com.

Digi launches Smart Energy product family

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Digi International has introduced a Smart Energy product family, including ZigBee Smart Energy ready modules and certified Energy Service Portal (ESP) gateways built on these modules.

The new ZigBee Smart Energy product family includes the XBee and XBee-PRO SE ZigBee modules and ConnectPort X2 ESP certified gateway. Built upon the existing XBee and XBee-PRO ZB, the new modules feature firmware that simplifies the development work required to develop and certify a ZigBee Smart Energy device. The gateway provides the connection between a consumer’s HAN and an energy service provider over a broadband or cellular connection.

The XBee Smart Energy firmware is a firmware load for XBee Series 2 RF modules. This means developers can convert XBee ZB and ZNet 2.5 RF modules into SE modules simply by changing firmware. Look for the Smart Energy Conversion Kit to do this. The XBee Smart Energy firmware currently supports the following variations:

31xx (API Coordinator)
33xx (API Router)
39xx (API End device)

Changing from coordinator to router or router to end device requires a new firmware load. Firmware can be uploaded serially to the XBee either programmatically or using a serial firmware update tool such as Digi’s X-CTU. See the XBee SE RF module manual for details.

Read more at Digi’s Smart Energy portal…

ZigBee Smart Energy – a short overview

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Schwarz) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:23:00 +0000

A short overview what ZigBee Smart Energy stands for:

ZigBee Smart Energy offers utilities and energy service providers secure, easy-to-use wireless home area networks (HAN) for managing energy. Smart Energy gives these groups and their customers the power to directly communicate with thermostats and other smart appliances.

New advanced metering and demand response programs can be implemented in homes easily and securely because of ZigBee wireless technology. Now utilities and energy service providers can easily implement energy management and efficiency programs to meet changing government requirements.
There area a growing number of products certified by the Alliance for ZigBee Smart Energy. These products represent every type of device needed to implement a robust home area network using ZigBee Smart Energy.

The ZigBee Alliance and the HomePlug® Alliance have been working to define a wired and wireless version of Smart Energy. The ZigBee+HomePlug Smart Energy marketing requirements document details the next generation of functionality envisioned for the Smart Grid with accompanying consumer control. It includes insight to a variety of use cases including plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging, installation, configuration, firmware download for HAN devices, prepay services, user information and messaging, load control, demand response, demand response, and common information and application profile interfaces for wired and wireless HANs. It is now available for free public download.

Let’s start this new blog and write about news concerning ZigBee Smart Energy!