4 Ways to Profit from the Smart Grid

Higher-end systems can show charts detailing gas, water and electricity use, along with the power generated by a photovoltaic solar array and how much energy is being sold back to the grid through a process called net metering.

Studies have also shown that having access to information about a home's energy use inspires residents to save 10 percent or more in their electricity consumption. That's not surprising, because once you see and understand how much energy you're using, you think of ways to save.

This can lead to dimming lights, automating shutoffs of electronics or other devices, buying more efficient products and looking to kill vampire loads by cutting power to those devices that continue to use electricity in standby modes.

Control4 is one of many companies trying to take advantage of this potentially huge market. Its new EMS-100 energy management system reads the data from the house's electric meter and transports it wirelessly, through the ZigBee RF-based mesh networking protocol, to a 5-inch controller/touchscreen that displays the data, interprets it and highlights opportunities for the homeowner to save energy.

It comes bundled with a ZigBee-connected programmable thermostat so homeowners can more intelligently control their energy use by adjusting indoor temperatures accordingly. The EMS-100 offers limited home control and automation capabilities, but automating lights and motorized shading, and cutting power to other devices could be added with a Control4 processor. At the outset, Control4 is marketing the EMS-100 for about $170 — to utilities to give to their customers so they can better monitor and manage their energy needs.

But why market to the utilities, which most experts agree have no long-term interest in installing and maintaining in-home systems? Mainly to get the ball rolling on these services. "Some of the California utilities are a little more progressive in their thinking on this," says Nagel. "They'll provide installs and hand-hold customers at the outset." Others may offer their customers rebates to buy such devices at retail outlets, where you'll likely see them.

Over time, installation of these devices shouldn't be too complicated, but Nagel likens it to the many truck rolls that still occur to get wireless Wi-Fi routers working in homes. "In winter, if that thermostat isn't working, who is going to do the truck roll? It could happen in a number of different ways. We're looking at our 1,500 dealers, Best Buy has the Geek Squad …

"Many people don't even know it's possible to make all of these things work together in the home, and that's a great opportunity for our dealers. As a lead generation tool, it's pretty compelling. We can use home automation as a follow-up."

Home automation, in fact, could be the killer app for in-home green technology. It can take the data from energy monitoring systems and lower the lights or shades, lower the temperature on the thermostat, and in time, smart-charge the electric car in the garage or "sell" the power in its batteries back to the grid.

Conclusion: Energy monitoring can create a vibrant market for home automation.

Energy Storage

Don't laugh. The smart charging of electric vehicles is a huge concern, because many in the coming years will likely return home during peak electric periods (3 p.m. to 8 p.m.), and plug in their electric vehicles to charge. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology using two-way energy flow that sends power from the car batteries back to the grid is also being discussed. This, too, will require intelligent home systems that can make it easy to determine your electric car's charging level at a glance instead of firing up a computer.

It's also fair to say that homeowners will want this data available on mobile devices like iPhones.

Energy storage will likely go even further, involving fuel cells that store power, even from sources like hydrogen. Panasonic, for one, has been working on a "co-generation" fuel cell system that separates nitrogen and oxygen from city gas to generate heat and energy. A hydrogen fuel cell is being planned for a home in Aiken, S.C. — where there is also, not so coincidentally, a hydrogen power research facility.

We're likely to see far more innovations in energy storage, both at the utility and home levels, in the coming years. "The Smart Grid In 2010" report calls it the missing link in the smart grid.

Conclusion: Energy storage system will require monitoring and open the door for home control and automation.

Home Area Networks

Or call it home control. Or automation. All the smart grid initiatives detailed here point to the opportunity to see home control and automation systems make homes more energy efficient. This is a no-brainer that much of the green market — and the home technology market — has ignored, until now.

Also consider this, from "The Smart Grid In 2010" report: "We are still in the early days of developing home area networks (HAN); it is likely that a hybrid approach — using both wireless and wired technologies — will be used to connect the multitude of devices that will eventually connect to the home network. While ZigBee has emerged as the leading wireless standard thus far, a number of options are competing for market share and driving product innovation, including Wi-Fi, ZWave, 6lowpan and HomePlug."

If even just a couple of these technologies wind up in the smart grid-connected home mix, watch out: The result will be mass confusion among homeowners just trying to get systems that help them save energy. And it will be left to electronics professionals like you to sort them out. That presents yet another opportunity.

Conclusion: Home networks will require electronics expertise.

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