Smart meters: IDC Energy Insights says the smart meter market worldwide is on a roll, with manufacturers shipping nearly 5 million meters in Q1 of 2011 – a 22.7% increase over Q1 2010. Looking ahead, IDC is forecasting the global smart meter market will exceed 71 million units by 2015 – a 5-year compound annual growth rate of 25.3%. The report anticipates significant adoption in Asia/Pacific and Latin American countries. It also notes that smart meters are quickly becoming a standard in North America, with small and mid-market utilities joining the trend toward smart meter solutions. Check our smart meter channel for more metering news and trends.

Home energy management: With energy efficiency of increasing concern to consumers and utility energy efficiency programs picking up steam, Pike Research anticipates significant demand for home energy management tools in the next decade, including in-home display (IHD) devices, web-based energy management dashboards, and smartphone applications.  In fact, Pike expects that worldwide users of home energy management systems will reach 63 million by 2020, a big leap from just over 1 million in 2011. Visit our smart home channel for other developments in this space.

T&D equipment: The electric power and transmission equipment market will be worth $128.9 billion this year, according to a new report from Visiongain. Large-scale industrialization in Brazil, Russia, India and China and other fast growing economies will push T&D growth in the coming decade. So will a surge in demand due to the electrification of rural areas. The report forecasts growth rates and spending levels in 20 leading markets. See our electric power transmission toolkit for more on this topic.

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