Intel, Freescale and others jump in to support smart grid, but will consumers want it?

Pecan Street Inc., Austin’s non-profit smart grid and clean energy research organization, today announced the roster of companies that will help it develop and deploy a smart grid in hundreds of Austin homes. Landis+Gyr will leverage its smart grid network platform and install several hundred $550 Focus AX smart meters in homes. Best Buy Co. Inc., Check-It, Intel Corp., Sony Corp. and Whirlpool Corp. will collaborate to deploy home services systems that will serve as the operating platform for consumer products and services. Best Buy and Whirlpool will work with Best Buy’s “Geek Squad” to install smart appliances, and will provide guidance and research collaboration on integrating smart appliances into the home services systems.
General Motors Co. is helping Pecan Street make 100 Chevrolet Volt automobiles available for lease or purchase by consumers who participate in the project. SunEdison will lead the research team’s work to develop home solar panel charging for the Chevrolet Volts. A number of the SunEdison-led home solar vehicle charging systems will also have in-home batteries, and all systems will integrate into Best Buy/Check-It, Intel, Sony and Whirlpool home services systems.
Freescale Semiconductor Holdings will assist with compliance testing for the home systems and with testing communications protocols that can be used for in home communications and for car communication with electric vehicle supply equipment.
Many of the homes that will be part of the test are in the Mueller neighborhood where new, green-built homes have replaced the old airport. The rest are in adjacent neighborhoods where homes generally range in age from 50 to 75 years. Austin Energy, Texas Gas and Austin Water are the utilities that service this area, and they are each providing meter integration and research support for the project.
“We are thrilled to have these forward-thinking companies working with our researchers and with the hundreds of residents who are volunteering their homes and their time,” said Pecan Street Inc. executive director Brewster McCracken. Pecan Street and its partner companies recognize that to succeed in the marketplace, smart grid technologies must clearly improve people’s lives. “To be relevant, smart grid innovations must solve consumers’ problems and provide services that excite them,” said McCracken.
So what do consumers want from the smart grid? Chip makers Freescale and Intel have both spent significant time and money studying that question. A survey conducted by Intel in Houston, Dallas and Austin found that 89% of consumers surveyed like the idea of managing their home systems remotely and interactively. Motivations range from saving money to protecting the environment to monitoring the house during vacations.
John Thomas, who directs technology strategy for Intel’s Eco Technology Group, believes that while smart grids may be good for the environment, for utilities and for chip makers, consumers will not be willing to pay for them until they see compelling applications that can be part of what they are already doing with wireless devices. Thomas says that if energy management could be integrated with gaming or entertainment systems the market could take off. Derek Phillips, who works with smart grid technology at Freescale, agrees that the smartphone will probably be the device of choice for controlling the home. “It’s about using the infrastructure of today for the technology of tomorrow,” says Phillips. He believes that ultimately the home energy manager of the future could be hidden in a router or a flat panel display and controlled by a smartphone. But in order to appeal to consumers, the home energy manager needs to integrate with other systems like home security or entertainment so that consumers will value it. Isaac Barchas, Director of the Austin Technology Incubator, sums it up bluntly, saying, “I don’t know what consumers want to do with energy management technology, but I’m pretty sure it’s not energy management.”