January 25, 2008—Echelon Corporation, a leading provider of networking technology that is used to manage and reduce energy consumption, showcased its smart grid solutions at DistribuTECH 2008, January 22-24 in Tampa, Florida.
Building on Echelon’s 20 years of experience and leadership position in networking everyday devices, Echelon is demonstrating how smart utility metering systems, street lighting systems, home networks, and building control systems—all of the devices attached to the electric grid—can work together to create a complete “smart grid” and enable utilities and energy consumers to work together to simply and effectively manage energy consumption and reduce demand in times of limited supply.
Echelon’s Networked Energy Services (NES) advanced metering system provides a global platform for next-generation metering systems, allowing utilities to cost-effectively and reliably communicate with their customers to improve service, lower cost, and better manage energy supply and demand. Over one million smart NES meters have already been shipped to utilities around the world for use in some of the most innovative advanced metering systems being deployed today, says Echelon.
An ecosystem of manufacturers, service providers, and installers in the commercial building, street lighting, and home markets offer intelligent infrastructure to business, consumers and governments based on Echelon’s LonWorks platform that can enable users to reduce both operating costs and energy consumption. Nearly 100 million LonWorks based devices are in use today in buildings, homes, street lighting, and other systems around the world.
When LonWorks networks are interlinked with pricing and other information available through the NES system, the power of the smart grid becomes apparent, says Echelon. Consumers and businesses can intelligently and automatically reduce and manage their load in the way that works best for their lifestyle or business; utilities can realize more in the way of demand response than they could with simple on-off control of a limited number of devices and they can do so while empowering their customers rather than controlling them.
Echelon’s LonWorks platform enables automated demand response programs, a key component of utilitys energy management policies. Demand response programs can ensure a balance between supply and demand by enabling the end-user to reduce energy usage in order to place usable megawatts back on the energy grid during periods of peak demand, eliminating the need to run inefficient peaking plants and reducing generation costs. In return, end users can be offered reduced electricity prices or other financial incentives.
For more information, visit the Echelon Web site.
