Power to the People with Smart Home Programs
Engaging
residential customers in demand response, dynamic rate, and 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 while enabling automated
responses to pricing or load signals.
Reducing peak loads and deferring additional generation capacity are key initiatives for most smart utility networks. Demand response (DR) programs that stimulate adoption, penetration, and retention provide the framework for realizing those peak load goals.
The Silver Spring Networks 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 web portal 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 portal on alternative AMI 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 certification program to ensure end-to-end interoperability with in-home devices.
