Web 2.0? Try Smart Grid 2.0

So what's the big deal about Smart Grid 2.0? Venture capitalist John Doerr says the Internet, which connects to 1 billion people worldwide, is a $1 trillion opportunity. He calls the electric grid, which connects to 4 billion, a $4 trillion opportunity.   And with its just-announced GridRouter developed in partnership with Duke Energy, SmartSynch is trying to do for the Smart Grid what the router did for the Internet – which means allowing any device to connect with any other device over any carrier.   This announcement opens the door to a world where Internet and telecommunications innovators could sell their products into a market that -- someday -- will be as large as their native industries ... or maybe  four times larger.

 

That’s a big deal for vendors. What it means for utilities is huge too.

 

Utilities Get Future-Proof Choices

The GridRouter functions like any other network appliance on an IP network – such as a network printer or PC. In fact, it is a computer running Linux, coupled with a hardware platform that has card slots for plugging in different chipsets to accommodate different wireless carriers.

 

If you’re familiar with an Internet router you know its primary job is to ensure data sent from a PC reaches its intended destination without unnecessary side trips. The difference between the SmartSynch device and a Cisco Internet router is that GridRouter was purpose built for the utility industry:

·         It has the antenna strength, power supply and “smarts” to handle multiple carriers

·         It is field ready and hardened for the utility environment, built to last 20 years in harsh conditions

·         It meets all utility safety standards, including those pertaining to worker safety

·         It has passed FCC certification and is in the process of being certified by multiple wireless carriers

 

Perhaps most important is that GridRouter frees utilities from being locked into one specific technology or device. Though all vendors these days talk the “open standards” talk, in reality utilities end up picking one communications platform from one vendor and hope it will be all things to all applications for years to come.

 

When I talked with SmartSynch CEO Stephen Johnston, he suggested this communications quandary has slowed Smart Grid deployment. “These are career decisions because you have to pick one supplier and bet that it can handle everything you need it to do now and in the future. So naturally utilities have been slow and cautious.”

 

If it works as advertised, GridRouter could change that.

 

“Anybody can build a chipset and connect to this router,” Johnston told me. “It is a completely open system. We tell our clients to invest in the best technology available today, but be prepared to change tomorrow as things improve.”

 

The idea is that utilities won’t have to care what communications pathway is used in different parts of their system:

·         They can mix and match with more ease, choosing one communications platform in one region and a different solution for a different part of their territory.

·         They can also manage their Smart Grid systems with standard, off-the-shelf network management tools – the same ones they’re already using for their computer systems.

 

Removing Barriers

If devices like GridRouter proliferate, it will suddenly be much easier for innovative technology and Internet companies to apply their existing products to the Smart Grid. Consider that:

·         Companies that build smart devices can now hook them up to the Smart Grid. They no longer need special versions customized to each communications system.

·         Companies that build software to manage devices on IP networks can now manage devices on Smart Grid networks. HP’s OpenView and IBM’s Tivoli just got huge new markets.

·         Carriers that offer wireless service can now easily compete in the Smart Grid space. They don’t have to build single-vendor, top-to-bottom systems custom tailored for each utility.

 

The barriers to innovation have come down, or more accurately the barriers to moving Internet innovations to the Smart Grid space.

 

If this all sounds too good to be true, understand that SmartSynch and Duke have had GridRouter under development for three years. It’s been tested extensively and certifications are almost finished.

 

Venture-backed SmartSynch has been around for more than a decade and has aspirations to go public within 24 months. It doubled revenue in 2009 and expects to double again in 2010; it expects to reach profitability then too.

 

The company will continue to compete in the meter communications space. But GridRouter vaults SmartSynch into a new line of business, which is the good news. The bad news is that it puts them squarely in the path of some of the planet’s biggest, most powerful tech firms. It’s hard to ignore a $4 trillion opportunity.

  

   SmartSynch GridRouter

   Fast Company: SmartSynch Future-Proofs the Smart Grid

   Smart Grid communications resources on SGN