Echelon overhauls smart grid tech, takes first order for same
Apparently Echelon thinks the smart grid needs to get even smarter -- by pushing some of the intelligent control features out to the edge of the grid. It is not enough for technology simply to tell us when there is a problem -- such as an outage or the potential for an overload or even more common issues such as voltage fluctuations -- technology should take action to thwart or address these problems.
"We need technology that is reliable, self-healing and secure," says Jeff Lund, vice president of business development for Echelon. "This is our new strategy for balancing supply and demand at the edge of the grid."
According to Lund and Echelon's new CEO Ron Sege, the potential for problems will only continue to escalate, as microgrid technologies are deploy and electric vehicles start populating residential garages. If you and three of your neighbors all hit the grid at the same time for a recharge, the strain on your neighborhood transformer might be too much. "It's all about transition client-server communications," says Sege.
The new technologies announced by Echelon this week are intended to address that potential problem. They include the Echelon Control System (ECoS), which the company describes as an open software platform. ECoS works in tandem with a new product called the Edge Control Node 7000 series, which basically is designed to bring intelligence closer to the point of transmission. Duke Energy has already placed a $14.5 million order for the technology. Delivery for that order should be completed by mid-2013.
The goals of the technology, according to Echelon are as follows:
- Fewer electrical outages
- Faster service restoration when an outage occurs
- More reliable and consistent quality of service
- Ability to integrate cleaner, more efficient energy supplies
- Redundancy and security
Technology companies that have already declared themselves as partners for ECoS include the Oracle Utilities division and Telvent (a smart grid technology integrator). There are also a whole bunch of other big players waiting the wings, including the electric vehicle infrastructure company Coulomb, utility billing company Convergys and smart meter technology companies such as eMeter.