Ferranti - MECOMS - Smart Home: In search for the Holy Grail
Only rarely does a single solution solve several different problems. Nevertheless, this is the goal of many smart metering and smart grid projects. In the long term, these investments are expected to curb rising electricity prices, increase forecasting accuracy and reduce peak loads by steering electricity consumption. In particular, the steering of energy consumption is the Holy Grail for many players in the energy market. It would reduce strain on the grid; it would render some gas-turbine plants redundant and reward customers with lower prices.
Unfortunately, getting the infrastructure in place will not suffice. A recent EnergyPulse article uses Jimmy Carter’s ill-fated Presidential Address to illustrate the tenacity of energy consumption. It makes the point that information alone is not enough to change consumption behaviour. Therefore, any tool to steer consumption will require careful testing and a sophisticated interface.
Furthermore, as noted by a report from Ovum, smart infrastructure is a system of systems, and success relies on the optimization of all supporting sub-systems. "Some of the earliest deployments of smart infrastructure have proven to be not so smart. For example, by failing to identify the requirements of their customers, some utilities have deployed metering systems that do not support any of the customer-focused functionality that delivers much of the benefit from deployment. Other deployments have failed to identify dependencies or interactions with adjacent systems, impacting overall performance and restricting functionality." It is clear that smart projects should focus on the citizen, not the technology.
At this point, no one has created the perfect solution for steering energy consumption in a smart grid world. Meanwhile, Ferranti experiments with new ways of bringing this information to the consumer. Instead of introducing yet another display with information, we strongly believe in using existing devices such as tablets, digital TV or game consoles to increase customer involvement.
The video shows one of our latest proof-of-concepts: an energy portal that uses Microsoft’s motion-sensing Kinect technology to let the customer view his energy use with mere gestures. This is only one step in our continuing effort to develop new customer interaction channels. We warmly invite everyone to share their ideas on our LinkedIn group.