Power to the People with Energy Efficiency Programs

Engaging residential customers in energy efficiency programs is critical for any smart grid deployment. Networked smart devices in the home and interactive web portals improve penetration and retention rates for the energy efficiency program.

A recent Consumer Electronics Association study revealed that the number of electronics products per household has doubled since 1997, and they now consume 11 percent of residential electricity

The Silver Spring Smart Energy Platform enables utilities to directly connect with customers and empower them to optimize their energy consumption to balance cost, comfort, and convenience. The UtilityIQ application suite interfaces with the CustomerIQ to offer customers an immediate view of their usage and cost patterns, based on data from the UtilityIQ Advanced Metering Manager application. Alternately, utilities can deploy the CustomerIQ on alternative Advanced Metering networks. Energy efficiency technologies allow utilities to customize the customer’s view, incorporating rate analysis, weather overlays, community comparisons, time-of-use pricing, and critical pricing alerts.

Thermostats, in-home displays, and appliances within the Home Area Network extend the utility’s ability to inform and incent the consumer. The network interfaces within Silver Spring-equipped meters deliver network connectivity into the home to enable that communications. Silver Spring supports the Zigbee specification for the Home Area Network (HAN). Because the specification is evolving, Silver Spring designed its Zigbee radio with upgradable hardware and extensible RAM and flash to support more sophisticated protocol requirements. The company has also initiated a HAN device qualification program to ensure end-to-end interoperability with in-home devices.

Power to the People with Energy Efficiency Programs

Consumer Empowerment and Energy Efficiency — Simply Smarter.