Phone in clean energy?
Pretty soon, checking to see if the oven was left on, the door left open or the AC was stuck on high will be as easy as pulling up the appropriate data on a portable electronic device.If there's a power-usage spike, the answer may be yes to one of the above.
Companies like Google, GreenBox, Tendril, Onzo and the Energy Detective are either offering or plan to offer services allowing consumers to monitor and calibrate energy usage electronically from afar. The clean energy connection is unmistakable and at first blush shows major promise.
The question is: Will it fly? The weekend's debut of the iPad may help determine whether remote energy management reaches the masses or goes the way of a used VHS workout tape. Katie Fehrenbacher, a reporter at earth2tech.com, takes on the topic and reasons that the iPad provides a medium through which companies like Onzo and Tendril could access a larger audience.
"The preliminary stage of the market is one reason why the iPad could possibly have such a large effect," she wrote. "As Glen Mella, the President and COO of Control4 — a home automation and energy management startup that created a free iPad app — put it in an interview Monday, think of the millions of people who could suddenly have access to a power display with rich media for home energy management."
Companies like Google, GreenBox, Tendril, Onzo and the Energy Detective are either offering or plan to offer services allowing consumers to monitor and calibrate energy usage electronically from afar. The clean energy connection is unmistakable and at first blush shows major promise.
The question is: Will it fly? The weekend's debut of the iPad may help determine whether remote energy management reaches the masses or goes the way of a used VHS workout tape. Katie Fehrenbacher, a reporter at earth2tech.com, takes on the topic and reasons that the iPad provides a medium through which companies like Onzo and Tendril could access a larger audience.
"The preliminary stage of the market is one reason why the iPad could possibly have such a large effect," she wrote. "As Glen Mella, the President and COO of Control4 — a home automation and energy management startup that created a free iPad app — put it in an interview Monday, think of the millions of people who could suddenly have access to a power display with rich media for home energy management."
Energy consumption is a big deal. The SJVCEO is working to export the Stockton Chamber's REACON Program, which promotes the money-saving virtues of saving power and resources, throughout the Valley's Main Streets. The iPad's ability to access the smart grid might just provide another tool in the arsenal for progressive entrepreneurs.