U.S.-Japan collaboration demonstrating smart grid, smart house in New Mexico

A $52 million United States-Japan smart grid demonstration project has begun operations in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The smart grid set-up will demonstrate how to provide a significant portion of renewable power on the grid to meet residential community needs. The Los Alamos smart grid demonstration consists of 2 megawatts of photovoltaic power, energy storage and a “smart house” outfitted with “smart”...

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Smart meter market shifts as shipments grow – IDC Energy

The momentum of global smart meter shipments is now shifting to Europe, Asia and South America as overall shipments also increase, according to IDC Energy Insights. According to IDC Energy’s Worldwide Quarterly Smart Meter Tracker, smart meter shipments around the world in the second quarter of 2012 grew 33.6 percent over the previous quarter, and were up nearly 51.3 percent year over year.

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IBM, Vodafone develop platform for smart home energy management

IBM and telco Vodafone are collaborating in a smarter home initiative to develop mobile management platforms for home appliances. The two companies have combined mobile communications and cloud computing in a platform their calling Machine-to-Machine or M2M technology. This technology connects more appliances wirelessly to the internet. The M2M initiative could allow smartphone users to remotely control the energy...

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Innovation, ‘commitment’ to fuel smart grid in Asia – report

Asia’s steps toward integrating renewable energy into grids and the region’s innovations in energy storage technologies – especially advanced battery solutions and systems – will fuel the smart grid market in Asia, according to a report. The smart grid market in Asia is poised to grow according to Zpryme due to the drive to build improved electricity structures in India and China by 2015,...

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U.S. Agriculture Department to fund rural smart grid projects

To improve their electric lines and transmission facilities, and to reduce peak electric loads, rural electric utilities in 18 U.S. states will receive loan guarantees from the Department of Agriculture to deploy smart grid technologies. Amounting to nearly $29 million, the announced funding is inching closer to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s goal to fund more than $250 million for smart grid technologies.

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Recent blackouts stress need for smart grids – SBI Energy

Recent blackouts in India and parts of the United States are "fresh reminders" that grid infrastructure revitalization and improvement are truly global challenges, according to a report from SBI Energy. The report said service disruptions would put stress on the global economy as they produce economic losses through lost business and added costs to energy, and they find that smart grid technologies a less costly complement to additional power plants,

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Global smart meter market down 15 percent in Q1 2012

After a surge in the of deployments in the period from 2009 to 2011, global smart meter shipments fell 15 percent in the first quarter of 2012 at only 15.1 million units, a Pike Research report says. The largest dip was in the North American market, due to uncertainty of the Production Tax Credit and other subsidies under the U.S. government’s stimulus money.

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Consumer beliefs play a big role in power consumption – Zpryme

Before utilities develop marketing plans for the “smart grid” and before policymakers make laws for enforcing energy conservation policies, consumer beliefs and how they influence practices that determine overall energy consumption and conservation should be understood first, a Zpryme report says.

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Middle East, North Africa regions primed up for smart grid – market research

While still only picking up in the region, smart grid applications could be affording the Middle East and North Africa savings of up to $1 billion per year, a study from smart grid market research company Northeast Group said. The smart metering market in the region is poised to reach sales of 16.1 million units by 2022, with a capitalization of $3.9 billion yearly. In the same year, 86 percent of homes and businesses in the region are expected to have smart meters.

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Brazil’s Ampla deploys 200 smart meters in Rio de Janeiro state

Brazilian utility Ampla Energia e Servicos S.A. is providing its customers in Buzios, Rio de Janeiro state with 200 advanced smart meters. The installation of these meters is in collaboration with Landis+Gyr and ENEL through their associated companies ENEL Distribuzione S.p.A. and Landis+Gyr Equipamentos de Medicao Ltda.

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