Innovation is alive and well around energy data, thanks to a series of initiatives and programs. Meet Ohmconnect, a bootstrapped startup that couldn’t have existed a couple years ago.
Algorithms to manage connected thermostats and collect their data have become a hot property in 2013. Alarm.com snaps up startup EnergyHub for its thermostat management software.
While Nest is widely known as a consumer-focused smart thermostat maker, the startup has quietly been developing services it can offer in conjunction with utilities, which can curb customers’ energy use while also lowering their energy bills.
According to early results of PG&E’s trial with smart thermostats from Honeywell and Opower, customers really like controlling the thermostat remotely with their iPhones. Remote control could prove to be one of the first smart grid applications that is a clear benefit to consumers.
Here’s what I think have been the top 10 best, and the top 10 worst, things that have landed on the cleantech scene in 2012. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
Opower has quietly been amassing serious reach with utilities, including crunching energy data from 50 million households and plans to be able to save its customers 2 terawatt hours by the end of 2012.
Are big data, analytics, and machine learning the answers to reducing the energy consumption of our homes? Yep, according to newly-emerged startup Bidgely that’s backed by Khosla Ventures. In an exclusive interview, Bidgely’s CEO gives GigaOM the details about what it’s been up to.
American utilities are slowly starting to embrace using smart thermostats to help manage the energy consumption of their customers. Startups like EnergyHub, EcoFactor, Nest, and Opower are offering these tools.
Can gorgeous design, learning algorithms and millions in venture capital funding make a simple home thermostat as coveted as the iPhone? If anyone can achieve such a lofty goal it’s Tony Fadell, the godfather of the iPod and iPhone, who has founded connected thermostat company Nest.
Fancy dashboards that can monitor and control a home’s energy consumption haven’t really caught on. But maybe that’s because the dashboard is the wrong device. Increasingly companies building home energy tools are focusing on making software for connected thermostats.
