Control4 is a maker of home automation software, and have been pulled into the smart grid space by utility companies seeking suppliers with experience in home networking.

The Control4 Energy Management System (EMS) 100, is a combination of a Zigbee-enabled thermostat and touch-screen energy controller for viewing home energy data and accessing other home management applications. The EMS 100 package is set for launch in April.

The EMS 100 combines the functionality of a home area network controller with demand response support, with a wireless thermostat and energy management software to provide utilities a cost effective, flexible, home area network solution for their smart grid deployments.  

Leveraging Control4® Home Automation product technology, the EMS 100 is the only home energy management solution that delivers customer usage data via the smart meter and a standards-based, secure platform that can control many devices in the home.

Since research shows that information availability is essential to effective energy conservation, The EMS 100 serves as an effective communications tool, providing utilities an efficient means to alert customers of demand response events and send signals directly to devices in the home during peak times.

The EMS 100 solution features the following:

•    The Control4® Energy Controller EC-100 5-inch color touch screen display - The EC-100 delivers usage data and energy costs for the home and the ability for the customer to take such actions as powering down lights or adjusting shades to reduce energy use.
•    The WT-100 Thermostat - A simple, elegant, ZigBee-based programmable wireless thermostat that connects directly to the EC-100 for total control of heating and cooling throughout the home.  Programming the WT-100 thermostat is managed through the EC-100 display.
•    Control4® Network Management Software - Control4® Network Management Software enables the monitoring, optimization and reporting of all deployed energy controllers.  The network management tools provide cost effective Tier 1 technical support and remote diagnostic capabilities.
•    Control4® ECO Software - Control4® Energy Consumption Optimizer (ECO) Software collects, analyzes and compresses energy use and behavior data on the EC-100, then communicates with the utility's load management software to treat demand response events as a dispatchable resource.  
•    Control4® Platform - The standards-based, secure Control4® software platform is based on industry standards of embedded Linux and Adobe Flash Lite.  The platform is secured through ZigBee SE, SSL, and OpenSSH technology.  The platform is extensible, allowing third parties to develop new applications, providing enhanced functionality to the system over time. For example, utilities can develop their own applications such as the monitoring of gas and water or a home's carbon dioxide output.
•    Control4 Automation & Control -- Using ZigBee, Wi-Fi and Ethernet standards, Control4's solutions give homeowners the ability to control and automate their thermostats, lights, spa or pool, sprinklers and more, to manage power usage with one easy to use interface.

As the operating system for the connected home, Control4 brings home automation and control to the broad market. Control4 technology is at the heart of an expanding ecosystem of leading consumer electronics products designed to work together with ease.

Renewable energy is undergoing a global transformation to cope with today's environmental, economic, health and resource scarcity challenges.  The day of assuming endless supplies of petroleum resources is over, and countries and companies are looking for "renewable" sources that happen within the earth's systems:  solar beams, winds, waves, biomass and even human energy!  Innovation and commercialization of renewable energy is in full swing, offering jobs, investment opportunities, as well as business opportunities to help create the vision and implement the solutions. 

Green buildings of all shapes and sizes will become integrated into these new energy systems for both consumption of energy and generation of energy for their own use and for uploading to the grid.

Here are some of the renewable energies and services surrounding this new shape of energies to come:

Wind
Solar photovoltaics - PV
Wave Power
Geothermal
Solar Concentrator
Solar Thermal
Passive Solar

Energy Services - O&M
Plant MRO
Contract Energy Management

Distributed Generation
Micro Turbines
Fuel Cells
Micro CHP
Gen-sets
Rental
Recip Engines
CHP - Cogeneration
Trigeneration
Waste to Energy

Add to these renewable energy sources high performance energy efficiency, and you have a pathway to net zero energy buildings.  This extreme sport -- net zero energy buildings will leap forward in the 2010 decade as building and emissions regulations require greater focus on efficient operations and distributed power generation.

Released 2009

 
 

Spread the word:
Become a fan of EPI on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/pages/Earth-Policy-Institute/17045240901

Lester R. Brown, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009), available on-line at www.earthpolicy.org/index.php?/books/pb4

The IREC participates in state and municipal level workshops, proceedings, and rulemakings focused on net metering, interconnection, and financing of distributed renewable energy technologies.

Net Metering

Twenty-two states and DC changed or adopted net metering laws/regulations in 2009.

New in 2009?  Kansas and Nebraska established new net-metering policies, raising the national state total to 42.

Old news? Many states have seriously flawed rules that inhibit market growth.

According to the IREC, changes implemented in the other states address increasingly complex policy issues, including

• the treatment of net excess generation
• renewable energy credit (REC) ownership
• community-owned systems
• third-party ownership

Net metering rules by state, using the grades applied in Freeing the Grid 2009, are available at
www.newenergychoices.org.

"Super-sized" net metering (i.e., a 1-MW or greater individual systems capacity limit for at least one customer type) now exists in 20 states.

The most important issue for net metering continues to be the treatment of energy delivered to the electric grid.

The touchstone of the debate centers invariably on concerns over the potential for inter-class subsidies when implementing or expanding net metering programs. This issue was front and center in several states including California due to legislative efforts to expand the aggregate program cap for net-metered systems and the California commission's consideration and ultimate adoption of a cost-benefit methodology for assessing the costs and benefits of distributed generation including net metered systems.

Utilities typically view any framework which values net metered excess generation above avoided costs rates as an undue subsidy to customer-generators from non-participating ratepayers.

Many utilities continue to hold this view despite the ever mounting research finding that the benefits of renewable distributed generation justify valuing net metered excess generation from renewable resources well above a utility's typical avoided cost of generation.

Concerns over the potential for inter-class subsidies underpin many decisions legislatures or state utility commissions make in placing arbitrary caps on the aggregate capacity of net metered systems allowed to participate in state net metering programs.
 

Interconnection Standards

Interconnection standards continue to serve as an essential component of state renewable energy policy. Seven states and Puerto Rico improved interconnection standards over the last year.

For a comprehensive description of IREC's positions on net metering and interconnection issues, see IREC's newly revised model procedures and other documents on IREC's website. For a thorough analysis of the procedures developed in the states in which IREC was active in the past year, see www.dsireusa.org.

According to the IREC, "federal legislation coupled with state budget problems have spurred solar policy and programmatic changes for direct financial incentives at the state level, but these changes have been far from uniform."

Between September 2008 and September 2009, approximately 40 new solar programs have
been created in 19 states. Of these programs, 10 are state programs.

Approximately 16 programs in 14 states increased funding for solar programs over the past year. Thirteen of these programs are state programs; the others are utility or local government
programs. In total, eight programs in 12 states increased the incentive level for individual systems.

A handful of states did reduce program budgets or incentive levels. Typically, states or utilities adjusted the individual incentive level or cap instead of reducing the overall program budget. Incentive levels in 10 states were reduced, with six of the incentive reductions occurring at the state level. Colorado, Illinois and Vermont were the only three states that lowered overall
program budgets during the past year, with the reductions in program funding in Illinois and
Vermont resulting from a re-appropriation of public benefits funds to fill state budget gaps.

Performance Based Incentives (PBIs)

As the U.S. solar market matures, states and utilities have begun shifting away from simple
rebate programs for photovoltaics (PV) and towards production- or performance-based incentives (PBIs).  15 PBIs were created, and the caps or rates for seven PBIs changed.
There are 39 production-based incentives in 28 states, with 14 production incentives for solar (excluding feed-in tariffs), 11 feed-in tariffs (FITs), and 14 REC-purchase programs (through
which RECs are purchased separately from electricity). Most - but not all - PBIs involve the
transfer of RECs from the generator to the utility.

SOURCE:  2009 Annual Report of IREC

According to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), the federal stimulus bill of 2009 facilitated the creation of Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, which allow local governments to offer low-interest "loans" to property owners to help pay the upfront costs of permanent, renewable energy improvements on the property.

The loans are usually repaid via a special assessment on the property.

Thirteen states enabled local governments to create PACE programs, which appeal to state legislators because they don't impact state budgets and they have the ability to spur clean energy job growth at the local level.

The full 2009 IREC Updates and Trends report is available online at: www.irecusa.org

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05) authorizes the U.S. Department of Energy to issue loan guarantees to eligible projects that "avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases" and "employ new or significantly improved technologies as compared to technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued".

Early Commercial Use

Title XVII of EPAct05 provides the basis of DOE's program. This title provides broad authority for DOE to guarantee loans that support early commercial use of advanced technologies, if "there is reasonable prospect of repayment of the principal and interest on the obligation by the borrower." Loan guarantees will be another tool that DOE will use to promote commercial use of innovative technologies. This tool is targeted at early commercial use only, not energy research, development, and demonstration programs.

DOE believes that accelerated commercial use of new or improved technologies will help to sustain economic growth, yield environmental benefits, and produce a more stable and secure energy supply.

The US Department of Energy is expected to open the window in 2009 to apply for federal loan guarantees on loans to wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other renewable energy projects that use commercially proven technologies.

In the first round, the Department evaluated loan guarantee pre-applications for projects that employed technologies in the following areas:

1. Biomass
2. Hydrogen
3. Solar
4. Wind and Hydropower
5. Advanced Fossil Energy Coal
6. Carbon Sequestration practices and technologies
7. Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
8. Alternative Fuel Vehicles
9. Industry Energy Efficiency Projects
10. Pollution Control Equipment

Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP)

This new program--called the "Financial Institution Partnership Program" or "FIPP" because of the key role played by private lenders-- differs substantially from the prior program that guarantees repayment of loans to projects that use innovative technologies. It will use radically different processes than those used so far to apply, evaluate, rank and award guarantees for projects.

The department will release a set of rules for the loan guarantee program at the same time it opens the window--and anyone who wants to apply is expected to have negotiated his or her loan first with a bank or insurance company and then the lender will apply to DOE for a guarantee.

Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20585
www.lgprogram.energy.gov

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if the North American grid were just 5% more efficient, the energy savings would equate to eliminating the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars.

Support of the Smart Grid Maturity Model by DoE enables it to be accessible to all stakeholders of the electric power industry.

IBM and a group of leading utilities--the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition--have handed-over stewardship of their Smart Grid Maturity Model to the Carnegie Mellon® Software Engineering Institute (SEI). As progressive utilities around the globe modernize power grids with digital technology, executives want to know that making the grid smarter is the right thing to do and they want to know how to do it.

The electric grid is the largest and most complex machine in the world and in places it is now critically overburdened. Impacts of climate change, available technology, and the current economic crisis represent the final tipping point for a much needed overhaul.

The Smart Grid Maturity Model will serve as a strategic framework for utilities, vendors, regulators, and consumers that have a role in smart grid transformation--from technological to regulatory to organizational.

The Smart Grid Maturity Model

The Smart Grid Maturity Model provides utilities with a roadmap of activities, investments, and best practices for transformation to the smart grid and guidance in related technological, regulatory, and organizational issues.

The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon (SEI) is now the steward of the Smart Grid Maturity Model. The model was developed by IBM, and its ownership has been transferred to the SEI for its ongoing development and dissemination.

In addition to the SEI activities, the World Energy Council (WEC) will be a channel for global dissemination, participation and adoption of the model using its worldwide network of member committees.

The Smart Grid

The smart grid is the use of digital technology to modernize the power grid. It employs innovative products and services combined with intelligent monitoring, control, communication, and self-healing technologies to do the following:

• Facilitate the connection and operation of generators of all sizes and technologies
• Allow consumers to play a part in optimizing the operation of the system
• Provide consumers with greater information and supply choices
• Significantly reduce the environmental impact of the electricity supply system
• Deliver enhanced levels of reliability and security of supply

More than meters and mobility, the smart grid represents a whole new framework for improved management of electric generation, transmission, and distribution.

During 2009, a specially assembled team of experts will be planning the best ways to maintain and improve the maturity model on behalf of its user community. 

To stimulate, guide, and support efforts and investments in smart grids, the SEI will assume primary responsibility for the ongoing governance, growth and evolution of the model. In order to support widespread adoption and use, the SEI will ensure availability of the model and supporting materials and services for the user community; maintain consistency of its application, validity, and results; and analyze and provide feedback on its use, value and impact for stakeholders.

Tom Standish, group president of Regulated Operations, CenterPoint Energy, encourages every utility to participate in the Smart Grid Maturity Model survey. "It provides insights into where you are on your smart grid journey and what milestone objectives to set to achieve the benefits of smart grid - for both customers and business," said Standish.

IBM initially led the development of the model in collaboration with the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition and with support from American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC). More than 40 utilities worldwide have participated in the model to date, representing 100 million customers of utilities across the globe. A key function of the Smart Grid Maturity Model tool is to gauge advancements made in Smart Grids and show returns on investments. This function allows it to be well positioned to have a role in procedures being implemented in support of the US efforts to modernize the power grid. The model offers observable indicators to measure progress, and helps facilitate the development and execution of smart grid programs.

A web page at SEI will be updated frequently to keep you up to date and let you know how you can participate. 

An online webinar is available about the Smart Grid:  http://www.sei.cmu.edu/collaborating/spins/033009webinar.html

Additional 10% bump in renewable energy generation to meet 2020 goal for the state's renewable energy portfolio standard.

California committed to getting a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 in a Monday executive order by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. This expands on the earlier commitment to produce 20% of its power from renewables such as wind and solar by 2010 as part of its plan to cut emissions of carbon that contribute to global warming.

Read more at California Green Solutions