Solar-powered tech will tell users when sun is shining
Residents in two neighbourhoods in the Dutch city of Breda are testing a new smart-grid technology that will let them know the best times to use energy, based on when renewable supplies are highest or prices are lowest.
The project involves 246 apartments with woodstoves and solar panels and 57 houses with heat pumps and solar panels, to be completed in 2012. In each home, smart devices like a smart electricity meter or a smart washing machine will be installed, connected to a smart energy computer. Besides giving residents information about the energy they use and produce, it collects their preferences and controls all devices as efficiently as possible.
The pilot is being run by grid operator Enexis, in cooperation with power company Greenchoice and development corporation HEJA. They hope that the tests will not only help to develop the technology, but also help them to understand how people use it.
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