Echelon Extends Smart Grid Solutions to Homes, Buildings and Municipalities
Energy Reduction Technologies Featured at DistribuTECH 2008
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON), a leading provider of networking technology that is used to manage and reduce energy consumption, recently showcased its smart grid solutions at DistribuTECH 2008 in Tampa, Florida.
Building on Echelon's 20 years of experience and leadership position in networking everyday devices, Echelon is demonstrating how smart utility metering systems, street lighting systems, home networks, and building control systems — all of the devices attached to the electric grid — can work together to create a complete "smart grid" and enable utilities and energy consumers to work together to simply and effectively manage energy consumption and reduce demand in times of limited supply.
"We are at an inflection point in the market where the needs of utilities to better manage and operate their grids is combining with the needs of consumers and businesses to better control and manage their energy consumption to create a new opportunity for the 'smart grid'," said Bea Yormark, Echelon's president and COO. "Echelon is uniquely
qualified to help utilities, governments, businesses and consumers address this growing need."
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Echelon's Networked Energy Services (NES) advanced metering system provides a global platform for next-generation metering systems, allowing utilities to cost-effectively and reliably communicate with their customers to improve service, lower cost, and better manage energy supply and demand. Over one million smart NES meters have already been shipped to utilities around the world for use in some of the most innovative advanced metering systems being deployed today.
An ecosystem of manufacturers, service providers, and installers in the commercial building, street lighting, and home markets offer intelligent infrastructure to business, consumers and governments based on Echelon's LonWorks® platform that can enable users to reduce both operating costs and energy consumption. Nearly 100 million LonWorks based devices are in use today in buildings, homes, street lighting and other systems around the world.
"When LonWorks networks are interlinked with pricing and other information available through the NES system, the power of the smart grid becomes apparent. Consumers and businesses can intelligently and automatically reduce and manage their load in the way that works best for their lifestyle or business; utilities can realize more in the way of demand response than they could with simple on-off control of a limited number of devices and they can do so while empowering their customers rather than controlling them — a win-win for all," concluded Yormark.
The NES System is an open, networked infrastructure for smart metering and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications. The system features a standard web services interface for new and existing utility applications, the ability to use any IP wide-area network for the data communications backhaul, and an open meter interface for connecting to in-home devices such as thermostats, water and gas meters, or an energy aware home area network.
Echelon's LonWorks platform enables automated demand response programs, a key component of utility's energy management policies. Demand response programs can ensure a balance between supply and demand by enabling the end-user to reduce energy usage in order to place usable megawatts back on the energy grid during periods of peak demand, eliminating the need to run inefficient peaking plants and reducing generation costs. In return, end-users can be offered reduced electricity prices or other financial incentives.
For more information, visit www.echelon.com.
About Echelon Corporation
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is a networking company that provides products and systems that can monitor and save energy; lower costs; improve productivity; and enhance service, quality, safety, and convenience by connecting everyday devices in utility, buildings, industrial, transportation, and home control systems. Tens of millions of smart devices based on Echelon's LonWorks® products and Networked Energy Services (NES) systems are used around the world today, bringing benefits to consumers and industry.# # #
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