EnViz Residential Demand Response

Under this rubric, using the smart meter, the utility, with the consumer’s permission, will be able to curtail non essential electrical loads as needed, benefitting the customer with less electric consumption and a smaller electric bill while helping the utility by reducing the need to construct expensive new peak generating capacity or to purchase power off the grid at costly peak rates. Despite considerable corporate marketing efforts and some positive publicity, smart meters have nevertheless experienced consumer resistance, due in part to skepticism of utility motives, ratepayer equity issues, privacy concerns and also what may be a libertarian streak among homeowners who don’t like the idea of a utility telling them when they can do their laundry. Furthermore, the build out of smart meter enabled service areas will at best, take as much as a decade, and even then likely leave out sizeable sectors of residential consumers.

Given this situation, should consumers and other stakeholders with an interest in DR simply bide their time until the smart meter and its associated home management system arrive? Not necessarily. There are other promising routes to residential energy efficiency and demand management. Electric utilities might wish otherwise, but today with multiple communication and control techniques now available, residential electric energy management systems aren’t restricted to pathways running exclusively through the electric meter, such as the smart meter systems described.

We believe DR makes sense, but it also has to put consumers, not the utility, foremost. As an alternative to utility directed demand response, we envision a consumer driven home energy management system. Based on increasingly popular and proven wireless communication protocols, cheap sensors and microcontrollers, such a system could connect and control key residential loads without resort to communications via the electric meter and the utility. Every residential electric consumer in the country can benefit. E2C2 LLC is developing such a solution, known as EnViz. The diagram explains it.

February 5th, 2011 | Tags: demand response, energy efficiency, HAN, home energy management, microcontrollers, smart grid, utilities, wireless communications | Category: Uncategorized, blog, home, news | Leave a comment

travel and transaction week map

I chatted with a computer scientist colleague last week about an open transaction platform he’d like to build that would bypass the major vendors and give consumers and small merchants alike access to the type of data retail giants now use to sell us even more stuff. One of the benefits of this open platform, among others, would be that we, as consumers, could see current records of our transactions on our handhelds by category. Moreover, I have been thinking, what if we could also place these transactions in geographic space. Would a picture of our goings and purchases make us smarter consumers, and more energy conscious, perhaps. I’ve recently read Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s book, Nudge http://nudges.org/, and have been thinking how some of the precepts of behavioral economics could be applied to more thoughtful energy use.

As a test of the hypothesis that “seeing” a record of transactions and travels might make me more thoughtful about them I logged my commerce and movements here in Washington, DC for part of this past week and built the 3D model of them that you see at left. I think this tells quite a lot about me - perhaps more than I might want a vendor to know. But  it also shows me I could be more considered in my use of transportation. For example, a couple of my car trips could have been accomplished using the subway and walking – but I wanted to save time; the age old conundrum involving time and or money.

October 31st, 2010 | Tags: behavioral economics, energy efficiency, green economy, transaction platforms, transportation modes | Category: Uncategorized, blog, news | Leave a comment

The old line goes “Everybody complains about the weather but no one does anything about it.” We’re doing something about this state of affairs. Our art and technology project, called weatherviz, captures and makes visible a small slice of the river of meteorological data that surrounds us.  It is an automated system that downloads weather information from the Internet and uses robotics to drive a large kinetic sculpture. It also animates a constantly – changing computer visualization. The whole production will ultimately be viewable over the Internet.

using weather imagery to drive sculpture and computer animation

Weatherviz extends meteorilogical imagery seen on TV and the Internet. It takes weather data and expresses it as movement in a kinetic sculpture.  Weatherviz sculpture and media animations play back interpretations of very recent weather events from a selection of 150 locations monitored by NOAA’s National Weather Service in the territorial United States. 

Weatheviz  captures and animates four regularly sampled meteorological factors for each geographic locale;  temperature, wind, precipitation and total weather energy. NOAA weather stations span nearly half the globe: west to east, from Guam, in the Pacific, to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; north to south, from Barrow, Alaska  to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

Demonstrations are slated for later this Summer in Seattle and during the Fall in Washington, DC. When visitors view the outdoor weatherviz sculpture, an electronic crawl accompanying it will identify the weather station and sampling date. Figuring out which components of the sculpture and data visualization match each other for a weather event will be part of the fun and mystery of the installation.

Stay tuned for more weatherviz info as the project reaches the demonstration stage.

May 14th, 2010 | Tags: art, climate, robotics, weather | Category: Uncategorized, art, blog, home | Leave a comment

Does styling matter? The car crazed, including me, can’t have missed a styling trend of the past several years where the bottom line of the rear quarter window in a sedan, coupe, or crossover swoops upward, rather than being more or less parallel with the rest of the side window. This styling device, called a Hoffmeister kink, after its German originator, is most associated with former BMW styling chief Chris Bangle, who introduced it in some BMW models in the early 2000’s.

I have generally admired Bangle’s expressionistic approach to vehicle design but the Hoffmeister is not one of his greatest contributions. The shame is that so many other auto makers jumped on the styling bandwagon and even though BMW has pretty much dispensed with this styling touch, it lives on in Mazda, Nissan, Lexus and others, making driving on congested highways all the more difficult. I’m an advocate of good design and this is a reminder that mere styling doesn’t always make the grade.

May 14th, 2010 | Tags: automobiles, hoffmeister kink, transportation safety. | Category: Uncategorized, art, blog | Leave a comment

How often do novels portray middle aged scientists and technologists? Moreover, those in the thrall of  solar energy? Just finished Ian McEwan’s novel, Solar. Michael Beard, the protagonist, is a Nobel winning physicist with a messy personal life and is on the downside of his career.  McEwan paints a comic portrait of a formerly brilliant, still self absorbed, immature and not very honest man, facing old age. The story delivers pot shots at political correctness in academe and  the bureaucratic finagling endemic in the government grants game. In what other work of fiction would NREL (the National Renewable Energy Lab) be featured? Not a great novel, but entertaining for its insights on the climate/renewables issue and the compulsions of middle age.

April 24th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized, blog, home, news | Leave a comment

A trip yesterday to the Washington International Auto Show got me to thinking about size. In the case of cars, as with housing, green doesn’t only mean new technologies, it also means smaller. From yesterday’s product scan at the show, Ford appears to be the only American manufacturer with an exciting small car in its portfolio. The Fiesta, due on showroom floors this spring, is stylish, well put together, good handling and peppy. It promises about 40 mpg with a high efficiency gas engine – no hybrid technology required. A turbocharged version, due a bit later, will offer even better performance with little or no mileage penalty.  General Motors doesn’t have much to counter the Fiesta; its Chevy Aveo looks down market and the Fiat/Chrysler 500, which is very cute but tiny, won’t be on sale for a couple of years. Ford’s main competition in the small, quality – but – not – luxury car segment will be Japan and VW.

This brings up the absurd situation in the American auto market with respect to vehicle size and efficiency.  Conventional marketing wisdom asserts that Americans need big cars because it’s a big country.  And, because big cars weigh more, they need bigger and more fuel thirsty engines.  There’s also the mythical, aspirational aspect of this argument: that Americans demand big, powerful, cars; because – well, they can. However, it’s long been known that the average vehicle trip in America is about 7 miles and that vehicle occupancy is generally not much more than one; the driver.  This suggests a car something less massive than a crew cab pickup or a 8 passenger SUV.  

In round numbers, the large truck/SUV gets about 20 mpg or less while the aforementioned Fiesta gets about 40 mpg, or twice the mileage without resorting to any hybrid or electric technology.  The automakers, American ones especially, have asserted that the public wants big cars and they are simply meeting that demand. However, large vehicles are also more profitable than small ones, providing the manufacturers incentives to sell them.  Speaking of large vehicles the truck and large SUV areas at the auto show were dead zones – opposed to 2 or 3 years ago.

In the “have your cake and eat it too” vein, manufacturers have countered the large vehicle efficiency downside by producing high performance cars with somewhat better fuel economy achieved by advanced technology. Examples are Lexus hybrids and Mercedes Blue Tec diesel models. But, as impressive as the performance and technology of these vehicles are they still beg the question about going to all this trouble when smaller, simpler vehicles will deliver approximately the same performance, get better mileage and cost a lot less? The motivation is manufacturers believe there is still a strong market for big luxury vehicles which improve the bottom line.

However, recent marketing research by McKinsey has suggested that Americans have not only changed their behavior with respect to expensive goods out of economic necessity; they are actually satisfied with lower priced, less premium offerings and unlikely to revert to previous behavior. In the case of automobiles, I hope this means a lot more cars like the Fiesta. Having said this, hybrid and electric vehicle technologies are necessary and inevitable, but in the meantime large energy savings are available by simply going a little smaller.

January 29th, 2010 | Tags: electric vehicles, energy efficiency, green cars | Category: Uncategorized, blog, home, news | Leave a comment

The question asked by everybody, including greentech types, is what it takes to sell products and services in this poor economy? We suggest for greentech the answer is; most of the same factors that have always made products attractive to consumers and businesses, but now with even more focus. We call these factors the three P’s: price, performance and don’t underestimate panache.

3 P's facilitate green product introduction - click to enlarge

Many of you familiar with marketing know the typical “S” shaped curve describing the penetration of new products in the marketplace. When a product is introduced there is typically a period of time where it experiences modest sales. This is the relatively flat, left “tail” of the “S” as people learn about the product and a few bold, early adopters them try it out. Then, if the product appeals for various reasons based on performance, price or the great intangible, panache (the fun, cool, or buzz factor), sales begin take off among progressive consumers, moving along a steeper portion of the curve.

Finally, if the product is popular and achieves mass market status, it hits the steepest section of the curve. Ultimately, sales flatten as most people who might be in the market for the product or service have now bought it, and replacement sales and conservative purchasers dominate.

While most greentech firms are undoubtedly pushing price and performance factors today we’re suggesting they also study the entertainment and luxury markets carefully and try to add as much panache to their offerings as possible, without compromising the other two “P’s.”

Three of our favorite examples of green marketing panache are ZipCar, GreenBox, and TerraPass. Each of these takes what’s essentially a fairly prosaic but environmentally desirable service and turns it into something more fun. ZipCar recasts short term auto rental and creates a community of “Zipsters” driving cute, energy efficient vehicles around metropolitan areas. GreenBox takes home energy monitoring (yawn!) and turns it into an engaging online activity with a community of fellow energy savers. TerraPass promotes purchasing carbon offsets as not only responsible but an interesting endeavor. 

Tell me about your favorite green product or service that delivers the “3 P’s.” We need to make our offerings as attractive to consumers as possible.

January 13th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized, blog, news | Comments Off

During this dark time of year and with the gloomy economy it’s hard to think about a bright future for photovoltaic power. However, the fact remains that the sun is the most abundant energy source available and we will need to rely on it much more if we are to address global warming successfully. 

You may have heard that renewable energy represents a small fraction – about 7% – of the national energy budget. And of that 7% renewable, solar energy comprises only about 1%, as the chart from the U.S. Energy Information Agency below illustrates.

Thus, if solar energy is going to become a significant contributor, delivering for example 5-10% of the total national electrical energy budget by 2030, this country must engage in a massive scale up over the next 20 years. It’s going to take some hard work and logistical magic to make sure the nation’s rooftops are supplied with solar panels, but this is what America is good at. Assuming we need solar to supply a minimum 5% of the total electrical budget, here’s some sample numbers for the residential market alone:

• We decide we want 25% of all PV capacity installed on residential rooftops, with the balance split between commercial buildings and industrial scale solar “farms.” 
• We have about 75 million detached and semi detached homes in the country now and might expect to have about 100 million by 2030.
• The EIA expects we will have an annual electrical demand of about 4,700 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) by 2030. If we want 25% of 5% – or 1.25% – of this demand supplied from residential rooftops then we will need to deploy about 20 million installations that each produce an average of 3,000 kWh per year. This translates into about 1 million new installations per year, or PV on 1 in every 5 American homes! Assuming 250 working days per year that’s 4,000 new residential installations nationwide every day for 20 years.
• The labor impacts of this are exciting. If it takes 2 installers 2 days for a typical residential system, this translates into the equivalent of 16,000 full time jobs in residential solar installations alone, not taking into additional jobs in manufacturing, administration and supply chain. The labor outlooks for commercial and industrial solar installations are even more encouraging.

In summary, the long term prospects are encouraging, but the short term may be bumpy for the solar industry. Among other issues, prices for solar equipment must decline, to garner widespread public uptake. But manufacturers and others in the supply chain must be able to pocket profits, which, in the near term, may be flat or worse in an oversupplied market and slowed economy. Public policy will also need to encourage solar. However, the policy challenge may be more straightforward than than ever, given President Elect Obama’s newly selected science and technology appointments. They include Nobel Laureate Steve Chu and global climate and energy expert John Holdren, who bring the new Administration outstanding credentials and commitment to the renewable energy imperative. We stay tuned to how Congress and the new President ultimately craft the stimulus package and hope that solar plays an important part.

December 19th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized, blog, news | Leave a comment

Smart energy is not simply the renewable kind; it’s also energy saved through efficiency. Put another way, saving a kilowatt through efficiency is the same as generating one at an existing or new power plant. In fact, it’s usually better, since efficiency is often cheaper than building new capacity or generating power at more expensive peak rates.

Energy efficiency encompasses a host of technologies. In the electric power field it includes better materials and construction, lighting, appliances and machinery for homes, businesses and factories. But it also includes more efficient transmission, distribution and management of the power we already have. One approach getting frequent attention is the Smart Grid. This is a new way of thinking about the national network of plants, wires, software and myriad electrical devices in operation at any one time. It changes the old, single direction paradigm of devices pulling power from the electrical grid into a real time conversation among devices and power infrastructure. This conversation will be particularly important since more power is being generated at distributed locations such as wind farms, and residential and commercial rooftops, equipped with solar panels, not just at conventional centralized power plants.

A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology to save energy and cost. This modernized electricity network should save energy, promote greater energy independence and contribute to the slowing of global warming. There are a lot of pieces to the smart grid puzzle, but we’ll focus on what the consumer might expect to see in a few years. I was actually kidding about your toaster on the Internet – you want it toasty – now, but several typical household appliances and other pieces of equipment may play important roles in the smart grid.

As an example, your refrigerator doesn’t need to run all the time to keep your food at appropriate temperature in the freezer and cooler compartments. Right now, it’s probably set too low,causing needless power consumption. In a smart grid home, you might set your refrigerator to an appropriate temperature and a series of sensors and communication protocols would automatically monitor and manage power to it. Your air conditioning system, another large power user, may also be set wrong, causing needless cooling of your home when unoccupied. Saving a few kilowatt hours this way, spread across hundreds of millions of homes and businesses really adds up.

ZigBee is an open standard communications protocol that will allow wireless control devices in a home or office to facilitate such appliance monitoring and control. While similar in some respects to Bluetooth, it is simpler and cheaper to implement, facilitating its cheap introduction into a host of household devices. When connected with a hub and smart meter an appliance like a refrigerator can be kept at appropriate temperature while saving unnecessary power consumption. This saves you money and gives the utility freedom to dispatch the power you don’t need elsewhere. Everybody wins with this approach.

The smart grid embraces all scales of our electrical infrastructure; from the national power grid to local distribution lines, to individual meters and equipment in homes and businesses. Pilot smart grid programs are currently underway in Austin, Texas and Boulder, Colorado. Among companies involved with the Smart Grid are software providers like Gridpoint www.gridpoint.com, Greenbox http://www.getgreenbox.com/ and a growing number of ZigBee enabled device manufacturers.

December 8th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized, blog | Leave a comment