Smart new home
18 June 2010
Businesses are competing for funding to undertake research that will help make homes ‘smarter’.
It is also hoped that consumers will become more energy conscious. The Technology Strategy Board is to invest £4.5m in the development of new business propositions that show how a smart meter can be fitted into homes in a way that impacts on their demand for and use of energy.
Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, Iain Gray said: “Homes are about to get smart, with appliances linked together into an intelligent grid that will be able to tell the consumer what is going on with energy usage. By connecting smart meters with other systems in the home, the consumer will become more energy-conscious, and can fit their energy consumption to suit their own lifestyle. Smart meters on their own won’t reduce energy consumption, but if they are connected up with other devices, customers will be able to make more informed choices about their energy use. This will open up new markets, with a range of new applications being developed to connect systems around the home, and to shift the way in which energy is delivered in the future.”
There is particular potential for UK businesses in the development of a smart home environment. A range of appliances will be trialled that have the capability to give people accurate real-time information on their energy use, enabling them to manage that use more effectively and making it possible for energy supply companies to offer consumers more attractive tariffs and services.
The Technology Strategy Board is particularly interested in projects that help to understand the way in which consumer demand might change in the light of the integration of smart home technologies.
The competition also aims to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing across sectors, integrating network owners and operators with the telecommunications and IT infrastructure sectors. This is because many of the technologies that can contribute to the smart grid system are already developed but there are untested risks, which might slow the adoption and development of smart technology along all parts of the value chain. Cross-working on innovative research and development projects in this area could help to address this challenge.
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