GE unveils its smart home technologies at its first appearance at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show, CES. These ecomagination and healthymagination technologies, including Nucleus Energy Manager with Brillion technology, the GE WattStation electric vehicle charging station, an advanced small wind turbine, will help consumers reduce health- and energy-related costs and redefine the benchmark for household performance. The smart home technologies will be available around second quarter end.
GE WattStation
Designed to help accelerate the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles, GE WattStation significantly decreases time needed for vehicle charging and, using smart grid technology, allows utility companies to manage the impact of electric vehicles on the local and regional grids. Combining functionality with consumer friendly form from renowned industrial designer Yves Behar, the GE WattStation on average decreases electric vehicle charging time from 12-18 hours to as little as 4-8 hours compared to standard charging Level 1, assuming a full-cycle charge for a 24 kWh battery.
GE Energy Display
GE energy display with Brillion technology will receive signals from the utility smart meter on the house to provide consumers with near real-time energy data to help them make smarter energy choices. Despite spending an average of $1,400 per household per year on energy, most consumers today are completely in the dark when it comes to their electricity use and the cost of performing their necessary household chores – until receiving their monthly bill.
GE energy display with Brillion technology from smart meters and provide continuous energy information, including,
– continuous energy use and cost information, allowing you to see exactly how much your are consuming in both kWh and dollars
– time-based pricing, so time-of-use pricing customers can see what price level they are currently paying
– historical energy usage for a clear picture of your energy consumption patterns tracking your usage by month, day and hour
– energy analysis to enable you see the energy data for a defined period of time, whether it is a few hours or a few days
– messages to notify and remind you about utility maintenance, pricing changes or critical conservation periods
Nucleus Energy Manager
GE Nucleus Energy Manager with Brillion technology is an affordable, innovative communication and data storage device that provides consumers with secure information about their total household electricity use and estimated costs so they can make more informed choices about how and when to use power. As utilities deploy smart meters, Nucleus, which is about the size of an average phone charger, will collect and store a consumer total household electricity use and estimated cost data for up to 3 years, and present it to consumers in near real-time on consumers existing personal computers or on a smart phone. Smart phone application currently under development.
– acts as the central nervous system for monitoring in-home electrical usage
– shows energy use in kWh and in estimated dollars spent, to reveal trends over days, weeks and months-up to 3 years
– accumulates daily/monthly/yearly historical trends up to a span of 3 years
– designed to adapt to expanding smart grid technology through online software enhancements
– connects the in-home smart energy network directly to a PC through an Ethernet connection or through an Internet broadband router – cable modem, DSL modem, wireless