If the grid goes down, will your home’s energy stay up? New technologies are becoming available that are making smart-home energy management a reality for today’s homeowners.
The global energy-management system market size is projected to reach $41.97 billion by 2027, exhibiting 9.9% growth. Integration of AI (artificial intelligence) in renewable energy management will play a decisive role in augmenting this market, says Fortune Business Insights. Offering a similar prediction, Allied Market Research suggests a 9.6% growth through 2027 in the smart-energy market, with robust investment in smart-grid technologies one of the major drivers.
Perhaps we need to take a step back and ask the question: What is a smart meter? A smart meter replaces the old gas and electricity meter. The standard electric meter required you or a professional meter reader to read the dials from right to left, which is literally the opposite of the gas meter, which is left to right. (For the sake of this article no need to be a meter reader and explain the process of looking at the dials and what all the numbers mean.)
Smart meters, on the other hand, can then send the data automatically to your energy supplier. Taking this a step further, these tools are coming together with smart-energy panels and in-home displays, which shows the electricity and gas consumption. Now as homeowners we can track our energy consumption in myriad ways, including on those in-home displays and on mobile apps. All-in-all, this helps reduce energy consumption.
Solar panels can also come into play here, which is a conversation we had on this blog last month. Integrated with home energy-management systems, this can give homeowners a complete picture of energy consumption and energy generation to compare and contrast how energy is coming in and going out of the home.
Let’s look at one example of a smart-energy panel. The Square D Energy Center smart-electrical panel from Schneider Electric backups power, simplifies energy management, and comes standard with an integrated Wiser Energy smart-home monitor. Here’s how it works: It connects with solar inverter and battery systems and the technology leverages machine learning to know how much energy is being used by every appliance, every plug, and every device. It offers data visualization of energy usage and displays how much energy your home is using from the grid, solar, battery, and portable generator.
Here are some of the benefits: App-based monitoring enables decisionmaking and homeowners can choose to switch between grid, solar, battery, and generator to reduce monthly bills. The ultimate result is saved energy consumption and saved money. When it comes to measuring and monitoring our home energy, it’s a win-win for all.
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