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Intel goes “green” with personal energy Bernard Cole Beijing, China - At one of its developer forums here, Intel's CEO detailed the company’s efforts to develop technology for what he called the "era of personal energy management." "We were a part of the technology industry that ushered in the era of the personal computer," CTO Justin Rattner said in a keynote address. "We want to be a part of the technology industry that ushers in the era of person energy management." It is initially addressing one of the biggest stumbling blocks to implementing personal energy management: the fact that smart meters being installed by utilities either do not communicate with household appliances or, if they do, they require that appliances be upgraded or retrofitted with sensors and communications lines. He said Intel has designed its own smart energy sensor that plugs into any outlet and uses a training mode to learn the electronic signatures of household appliances on a circuit. By turning each household device on and off three times, software algorithms can detect the electronic fingerprint of household devices. It then tracks and monitors energy usage without having to install or retrofit hardware. The company is also addressing the need to display information gathered by the smart sensor, and at the forum showed a prototype of an energy display panel that uses data from its wireless energy sensor to monitor usage, recommend more efficient practices and set goals. The same functions performed by the hardware control panel can also built into an application for laptops or smartphones. "The way you keep consumers engaged over a long period of time is to give them competitive data," said Rattner. "You tell them things like 'the average home in your neighborhood is using half as many kilowatt hours as you'." Intel's long-term vision, he said, is to build an ecosystem for personal energy management with standards recognized by Intel and industrial automation vendors like Honeywell and Johnson Controls. With standardization, Intel hopes to spawn a community of energy conserving apps like sending reminders to turn off lights. "We should allow applications to interface to our smart sensors using a standard API," said Rattner. "With standards in place, whole varieties of energy monitoring and management systems should be possible, some of which will integrate green technologies such as electric cars, solar cells, wind turbines or even household fuel cells." Intel expects to roll out devices to consumers later this year, mainly through pilot programs with utilities, but longer term through direct retail and home builders building it into new houses To learn more, go to www.intel.com.
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