It seems like forever that low-voltage integrators have been debating whether or not they should add line-voltage electrical services, and a growing number of CE pros have done just that in recent years.
Now, with the proliferation of electric vehicles, the high cost of energy, and the increasing alternative energy options – from wind turbines to solar power – there’s a greater need for homeowners to monitor their energy usage.
Savant is making the case for integrators to become the go-to providers for managing intelligent power solutions, and the company recently acquired Racepoint Energy and renamed it Savant Power as part of its ever-growing residential technology ecosystem. Savant Power president Anna Demeo spoke with CE Pro editor Jason Knott on this week’s CE Pro Podcast episode about this exciting opportunity.
To help get integrators up to speed on what exactly the technology is and does, Demeo explains Savant Power and its intelligent power management functionalities. The product addresses two major buckets, she says.
“One is our smart electrical panel,” Demeo says. “We all have them in our homes or businesses, and they’re pretty much the same as they’ve always been – not much has changed in that industry. With Savant Power we are taking them into the 21st century, and what that means is we can now monitor in real-time and revenue grade all the energy in a home or business and control that in real-time has value.
“It has value around making sure that we can keep a home or a business functioning at it most optimum,” she adds.
Savant Power Optimizes ‘Microgrid’ & Eyes 3 E’s of Adoption
The other major aspect is the notion of a “microgrid,” which Demeo explains as not only the ability to manage all the loads in a home via that smart power panel but also the sources that can potentially power today’s houses/businesses.
“It’s not just the grid anymore,” she says, mentioning alternatives such as solar, wind and battery. “And so what our system does is takes all of these inputs as well as all of your loads, and then optimizes the system.”
Demeo notes Savant Power focuses on “the three E’s” that drive consumer energy monitoring adoption – energy resiliency/security (keeping the lights on), economics (the changing way we pay for energy) and environmental stewardship/sustainability.
The Savant Power move by Savant falls in nicely with the company’s recent pushes into lighting and wellness solutions with its GE Lighting acquisition and new CYNC products rebranded from C by GE. The company has also bolstered its audio and security integrations in the past year.
Meanwhile, intelligent energy monitoring/energy automation is a category that’s been slowly growing. Earlier this year, we covered it on the CE Pro Podcast when we chatted with Troy Morgan of PanTech Design on his company’s solution.
Lean more about Savant Power as Knott and Demeo continue the discussion about how integrators can broach the topic with customers and create new revenue streams from intelligent energy monitoring. Listen to or watch the podcast above, and find past episodes of the CE Pro Podcast by subscribing to the CE Pro YouTube channel or our Apple and Spotify podcast feeds.