Pecan Street Smart Grid Demonstration Project

TOKYO- SEPTEMBER 30, 2011- Sony today announced it's joined the “Pecan Street Smart Grid Demonstration Project.” Like a participating company in this smart grid demonstration experiment built around home applications and consumer electronics, Sony is evaluating and developing Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) that enable continual use of energy for practical and experimental uses.

Smart grid approach involves connecting smart meters (next-generation electricity meters), such as those installed in households, to a network. This gives a real time picture of electricity demand, thus optimizing the supply and usage of electricity. The main objectives of this approach are to result in the production and offer of electricity more effective. Within an aim to create end-user benefits, Sony decided to participate in the Pecan Street Smart Grid Demonstration Project, which places a powerful focus on producing benefits to end-users.

Overview of the smart grid demonstration experiment

· To investigate new technologies to achieve lower HEMS costs

Implementation of HEMS systems is going to be easier, because it will become possible to measure the electricity consumed by main devices within the household, simply by measuring the present waveforms from a single main wiring location on the power distribution board. Previously, such detailed measurements might have required installation of separate devices to watch each individual power distribution board or piece of equipment.

· To supply added value with the Sony Group’s CE devices and entertainment services

For that purposes of this experiment, Sony plans to deploy an Internet-connection set-top box in all participating homes. This can allow all households to easily view their energy management about the portal site using their living room TV at any given time, thereby enabling everyone to participate within the system. Sony is also considering the addition of other services, for example distribution of games and other free content so that end-users can also enjoy accessing the website. The development of a structure which will enable HEMS to become operated with minimum financial burden to the customer in the future may also be considered by incorporating business models for example advertising material.

· To investigate the efficiency of energy-saving management while keeping a good quality of life 

Sony plans to build a system that is mutually beneficial for the client and the electricity supplier. This can be achieved using the independently-developed electricity demand predictive technology to anticipate which periods will attract peak demand or surplus supplies of electricity. These details can then be employed to charge up batteries or EVs in times of surplus supply, in order to switch to electric batteries during peak demand periods, minimizing the general load on the electrical power grids. A thermostat that may be controlled via the network are also planned to become installed in all households. This will enable the air conditioning to become adjusted to some comfortable level during peak demand periods, in a fashion that won't inconvenience the consumer. In some households, energy self storage units developed by Sony were designed for balancing electric power consumption during peak hours of power consumption.

· Open platform 

Sony will investigate whether utilization of this open technology can enable an environment to become created in which third-party vendors could offer other solutions based on the electricity consumption data collected from households by Sony, while continuing to keep security and privacy. Specifically, open future technologies for example ‘Smart Energy Profile’ can be used for applications for example controlling consumer electronics devices in your home. Furthermore, Sony is considering building a database that would enable third-party vendors to supply information-sharing applications by utilizing APIs to securely extract data about consumed electricity from external sources (conditional upon being granted permission by the users) with no need to separately install electricity meters.

Source: Sony