The highlight of my second day at the Spring SGIP face-to-face meeting was attending Schneider Electric’s open house. This global energy management company offers a broad array of products and services for just about every segment of the energy industry. Utilizing Schneider Electric’s Wiser™ energy management system, utilities can offer their residential and small business customers an easy way to actively monitor and manage their energy while reducing the strain on their electrical grid. Below is a photo I took of the residential thermostat and mobile monitoring unit. The colors on the screens change from green to red based on dynamic pricing or peak usage. Red means critical and action should be taken to reduce usage as much as possible.
I had my first view of the Nissan Leaf and I was surprised and impressed by its styling. I’m not sure what I expected, but the interior looked pretty normal for a zero emissions vehicle. Pop the hood, or shall I say charging lid, and you know this is not your typical soccer mom’s car. There are two outlets: one for turbo charge and one for the standard eight hour charge. Schneider offers a garage charging port, as well as an outdoor charging station.
Beyond the hype of the latests gadgets, Schneider Electric provides tuition-free on-line classes at its Energy University. Offered in several languages, including Spanish and Chinese, these classes cover a variety of topics sure to be of interest to energy managers at large industrial companies, as well as the homeowner looking to better understand the smart grid. At these prices there is no excuse for not improving your energy IQ!