GE smart grid vision: Self-powered devices for building automation

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Quick Take: Researchers have long dreamed of no-battery, no-wires sensors and monitors for building automation. The cost of re-wiring and retrofitting existing buildings makes automation too costly for most existing buildings. Now those gee-whiz gadgets (or should I say GE-whiz gadgets) just got a step closer to reality. In partnership with a German company, it will launch more than 50 wireless products this fall – products that require no batteries and no wires.

As you review the details, don't overlook the small sentence at the end in which GE says it is joining a consortium to establish common standards for self-powered wireless monitors. If building automation will play any role in your future, that is a group you will want to watch carefully at the very least. Or perhaps even join to make sure your voice is heard. – Jesse Berst

GE has partnered with German self-powered wireless technology provider EnOcean to offer more than 50 products designed to make it easier (and cheaper) to integrate smart building technologies into existing buildings, particularly in buildings – such as historic structures – where installing wires or batteries is impractical.

The variety of new smart buildings solutions, due for release later this year, will be based on a combination of GE's HabiTEQl, which controls and automates energy use in residential and commercial buildings, and EnOcean's battery-free wireless technology.

HabiTEQ is a flexible integrated system that operates a building's subsystems such as lighting, heating, ventilation, blinds and security from a central control unit or on-line. EnOcean's wireless technology makes the installation process simpler and cheaper. It also provides aesthetic and practical advantages with the capability of fitting equipment such as sensors in historic buildings or ultra-thin switches on glass panels.

The EnOcean-equipped devices need no maintenance and pull power from ambient heat and light or from a switch being pressed – and along with the reduced need for batteries, those devices provide an environmentally sound way of increasing energy efficiency.

"The combination of GE HabiTEQ systems and EnOcean technology will enable families and commercial property managers to reduce their costs and energy consumption while increasing comfort and convenience," said Todd Johnstone, chief executive officer for GE Energy's Industrial Solutions business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "That is a very attractive proposition at a time when we are all very much aware of rising energy prices and pressures to reduce our impact on the environment."

GE also has joined the EnOcean Alliance, a consortium of companies dedicated to developing and promoting self-powered wireless monitoring and control systems by providing common standards.

Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com. He consults to smart grid companies seeking market entry advice and M&A advisory. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the US and abroad, he also serves on the Advisory Council of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy & Environment directorate.

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