Business trend of the smart house market
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Smart appliances
Electric appliances with the mechanism to
optimize power consumption automatically in coordination with smart grids and
smart meters are called smart appliances. Generally, they have such functions
as utilizing night power effectively and controlling power consumption when the
total power consumption of the power grid exceeds a certain level. It will
supposedly not take long for smart appliance to start spreading gradually
because of the spread of smart meters, ever-increasing energy cost, and
improved interface with smart grids. It is generally expected that smart
appliance shipments will exceed 24 million units in 2017.
The smart meter seems to be the key to the
spread of smart appliances. It is the next-generation power meter that allows
for interactive information exchange on power consumption wirelessly or by
optical fiber. The power meter is up to now a device that the electric power
company checks periodically for charging electric bill, but the next-generation
smart meter gives consumers information on power consumption in real time for
power saving. Consumers can optimize their efforts for energy-saving by communicating
with the controller that manages energy consumption inside the smart house.
Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to
replace the power meter of 17 million households, about 60% of all households
to which it supplies power, with smart meters by 2018. Western companies are ahead of Japanese
companies, but Toshiba and Fuji Electric are energetically chasing them. Toshiba
acquired Landis+Gyr that is a leading smart meter maker in Switzerland and Fuji Electric is collaborating with GE of the U.S.
Smart life proposed by Panasonic
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