New Energy Dynamics Call for New Solutions at Home

This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services

You’re leaving on vacation, an hour into your drive, and it suddenly hits you: did you forget to turn off the stove?

Years ago, you would have had to go back to check. But not today.

Thanks to the advent of smart technology, you can determine the status of your home’s devices in seconds, right from your phone.

Digitization is changing the way we interact with our homes. It’s now possible to see where our energy comes from, how we access it, how much we’ve used, and how much it’s costing us. In addition, linear plant-to-plug energy distribution is giving way to multi-source and decentralized networks. It’s a major paradigm shift, and it can get complicated.

Consider these developments:

• Solar power is growing rapidly as a new source of energy in addition to utility-generated energy, especially in the United States, Germany, and Australia.
• More than 1.2 million homes in California are solar panel-equipped;¹ after code changes in 2020, all new homes will have solar capability.²
• The price of solar and renewables is achieving parity with grid power in several countries as electricity prices rise and solar costs decrease.
• Rising grid tariffs are accelerating solar adoption.
• The adoption of batteries combined with solar installation is approaching 30 percent.

More game changers

Time-of-use (TOU) tariffs are another new complicating factor for homeowners. Utility power rates can now vary throughout the day based on demand. Consumers need to understand how these rates affect them and change their behaviors accordingly if they wish to avoid higher energy costs. In the United States, 14 million homes will move to TOU tariffs by 2020.³

Electric vehicles (EVs) are an additional energy game-changer. If you charge your Tesla at home, it could drive up your energy consumption by as much as 40 percent!

Finally, as a growing number of people choose to age in their homes – by 2035, the number of people age 65 or older in the United States will reach 80 million^{4 –} there is an increasing need for always-on power for critical medical equipment such as oxygen and dialysis machines.

An intelligent approach to smart devices

Smart, connected devices are the solution for monitoring the multiple energy streams that are now flowing in and out of our homes. These devices enable us to control thermostats, appliances, lighting, security systems, and more.  Problem is, smart devices all come with their own app, which can get confusing and cumbersome to manage. Isn’t there a way to get the smart, digital control we want in a centralized, easy-to-use solution?

The answer is yes. In the United States, the next generation of the Wiser Energy solution delivers digital energy management to any home while simplifying homeowners’ lives.

Wiser Energy is a fully open system, able to interact with multiple different platforms. Whether you’re asking Alexa or Google how your entire electrical system is operating or simply looking to monitor your smart thermostats, lighting, or electrical outlets, Wiser Energy is designed to respond to the wide range of dynamic smart home environments.

Customizable alerts allow you to interact with Wiser Energy in the manner that you choose and with a growing pool of integrated smart home devices. And the solution is designed to grow with you. You can add functionality as you choose, based on what’s important to you.

Most important, only Wiser Energy lets you monitor your smart home – both connected and non-connected devices – with a single app.

Manage your home like never before

Wiser Energy measures energy usage within your home and transforms that data into truly powerful tools.

With Wiser Energy, you can:

• Know what’s happening within your home from anywhere. If you leave for work and forget to turn off your stove, your Wiser Energy solution will notify you.
• Have a reliable, noninvasive way to check on elderly loved ones and make sure all is well.
• Optimize the net energy of your home; for solar and battery installations, there is a Wiser Energy solar edition.
• Manage your TOU by tracking both energy consumption and generation, allowing you to determine the best time to do laundry or turn on the pool pump.

Schneider Electric developed the Wiser Energy solution in partnership with Sense, a Boston-based home energy monitoring company. Sense’s disaggregation technology uses machine learning to identify the unique signature of electronic devices to determine their real-time status and energy usage.

Installers love us, too

 Schneider Electric knows that labor is tight in the United States. That’s why creating products that are easy to install is at the core of our design philosophy. Wiser Energy solutions can be installed in as few as 15 minutes.

Wiser hardware fits into existing electrical panels. With utility rate information built in, Wiser solutions translate kilowatt hours into dollars, allowing homeowners to pinpoint where they are spending money and take measures to lower their bill. Energy savings of up to 20 percent are possible, especially if the home has electric heat.

Get Wiser

 Gain visibility into energy use in your home and improve safety, comfort, efficiency, and convenience. Learn about Wiser’s new connected residential solution for homes in the United States. And explore other Wiser smart home offers around the globe.

Sources

1. https://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/california-solar
2. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/california-homes-built-after-2020-will-be-required-have-solar-panels-180969050/
3. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/as-california-leads-way-with-tou-rates-some-call-for-simpler-solutions/532436/
4. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research-areas/reports/projections-and-implications-housing-growing-population-older-households-2015#overlay-context