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Smart energy interoperability: it's now or never
Anne-Francoise Pele
8/10/2012 10:48 AM EDT
Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance
EETimes: What will the ZigBee Alliance bring to the CSEP in terms of specific competencies/experience/achievements?
Heile (shown): The ZigBee Alliance is the only organization with a highly secure, existing and widely deployed global standard addressing the AMI and Smart Energy management space in the market today. Our test and certification experience for Smart Energy products is extensive after years of work ensuring our products are interoperable. The ZigBee Alliance is also leading the SEP2 standards development process, so our work is of considerable value to CSEP as it undertakes its activities.
EETimes: What are the immediate challenges that the CSEP will have to overcome?
Heile: The most challenging aspect is delivering a timely test and certification plan, but this challenge will be met and the ZigBee Alliance will share its valuable experience in testing and certifying these products.
EETimes: What are your short term and long-term expectations for the CSEP?
Heile: CSEP exists as an organization with one focus: to provide a technology agnostic test and certification capability. All ZigBee needs is a usable test plan and a defined SEP2 certification process to include as part of the ZigBee Certified program testing Smart Energy products.
The ZigBee Alliance is more than able to produce such a plan on its own, and we will be strongly supporting the need to demonstrate any test process is truly technology agnostic.
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EETimes: What will the ZigBee Alliance bring to the CSEP in terms of specific competencies/experience/achievements?
Heile (shown): The ZigBee Alliance is the only organization with a highly secure, existing and widely deployed global standard addressing the AMI and Smart Energy management space in the market today. Our test and certification experience for Smart Energy products is extensive after years of work ensuring our products are interoperable. The ZigBee Alliance is also leading the SEP2 standards development process, so our work is of considerable value to CSEP as it undertakes its activities.EETimes: What are the immediate challenges that the CSEP will have to overcome?
Heile: The most challenging aspect is delivering a timely test and certification plan, but this challenge will be met and the ZigBee Alliance will share its valuable experience in testing and certifying these products.
EETimes: What are your short term and long-term expectations for the CSEP?
Heile: CSEP exists as an organization with one focus: to provide a technology agnostic test and certification capability. All ZigBee needs is a usable test plan and a defined SEP2 certification process to include as part of the ZigBee Certified program testing Smart Energy products.
The ZigBee Alliance is more than able to produce such a plan on its own, and we will be strongly supporting the need to demonstrate any test process is truly technology agnostic.
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dougwithau
8/12/2012 1:44 PM EDT
This is my opinion, it does not reflect the opinion of my current or past employers. I worked at a "Smart Energy company" implementing Zigbee based devices that interfaced with smart meters.
If you are reading this as an investor or person in the smart energy space, please take note. This is the unvarnished truth.
Smart energy is a good idea with no real market. The home user does not want another way for marketers to monitor their behavior. No,I do not need an email from my furnace or fridge telling me it is time to buy a genuine replacement filter. Energy savings is nice, but when the savings does not pay back the initial investment for 5-7 years, it is not interesting for most home users. I will not replace my furnace or fridge because it is "smart".
Commercial energy saving systems are a different story. There is some money in that market.
The utility is the other side of the smart energy story. Utilities do not want to manage the complication of a home full of smart devices. Building, commissioning and managing the installation of a secure wireless network kills any possible profit. There is a basic misunderstanding of the utility business model. If it is capital equipment, the PUC votes to pay for it. If not, don't do it. Smart energy has so far failed in front of the PUC.
Beyond some stimulus funds, there really is no market.
Ask the basic marketing question. Who want this technology? What problem does it solve?
The answer is no one, not the utility or the consumer. Electricity is sold at 10-30 cents per kilowatt. Consumers have no interest in saving, especially when the saving is up front expensive and seen as an inconvenience.
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dougwithau
8/12/2012 1:44 PM EDT
Rant continued to get past the 2000 character limit.
Do you, as an EETimes reader, who does not represent the technical know how of an average consumer, know what you pay per kwh for electricity? Off the top of your head?
Cisco, Microsoft and Google have all abandoned their plans in home energy management. Maybe they are all wrong.
All I am saying is, don't throw pickles down a rat hole. Remember, sunk costs, don't put good money after bad.
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bearchow
8/13/2012 9:41 AM EDT
Matter of fact, I don't know, or really care how much I pay for electricity. Nor do I care for smart appliances, or smart meters (which in real life have led to more complaints from consumers that they are used by power companies to get more money out of them, not less).
Not to mention the fact that modern jargon like "interoperability" and garbage like that set off alarm bells that I am about to either be bs'd or bored.
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iniewski
8/13/2012 1:03 PM EDT
I know how much I pay ($40/month) and think this is too low...at that price I have absolutely no incentive to cut my energy use...however, I do have an incentive to cut down my coffee consumption which is $200/month...Kris
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Gus campeon
8/16/2012 10:41 AM EDT
Hi Iniewski: Could you tell us where you live? Because 40 bucks per month seems to be a very low rate for electricity consumption? Regards, Gus
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iniewski
8/16/2012 12:10 PM EDT
To @Gus campeon, I live in Vancouver, BC, Canada...small house, 2,000 sq ft...granted we get the lowest electricity rates in the world, $0.07/kWh...but even if the rate was double it would be $80 a month, still less then daily coffee...Kris
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