Syndicate
) September 10, 2009 -- Trilliant Incorporated, a leader in delivering Smart Grid solutions that enhance energy efficiency, utility operations, and renewable resource integration, today announced that is has joined the U-SNAP Alliance, an open industry association dedicated to creating a low-cost, protocol-agnostic, and interoperable communications standard for connecting home appliances, thermostats, and controls to Smart Grid networks. Trilliant has also made available a free white paper that discusses how U-SNAP facilitates a new home area network (HAN) architecture, which is available for download at http://info.trilliantinc.com/HANGateway.html.
U-SNAP ("Utility Smart Network Access Port") provides convenient and practical energy management of home devices by creating a standard communications module that simply plugs into any U-SNAP-enabled device. Connecting a thermostat or appliance to a Smart Grid network becomes as simple as plugging a small U-SNAP card into a slot.
Utility Smart Network Access Port
Utilities face a basic choice when extending the Smart Grid into the home
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The U-SNAP standard creates interoperability between in-home devices regardless of the appliance type or communications technology. This capability creates not only the ability to support any device on any network, but to easily upgrade or change communications in the field by simply replacing the module, which is a simple process that can be done by the consumer.
"Utilities face a basic choice when extending the Smart Grid into the home," according to Barry Haaser, executive director of the U-SNAP Alliance. "Should the gateway into the home be integrated into the smart meter or reside in an in-home device? The U-SNAP approach supports multiple deployment models, while limiting protocol risks by separating communications from devices for maximum flexibility and minimal risk. This provides the utility with control over the security, functionality, and communication protocols needed to confidently implement energy efficiency and demand response on a large scale."
Similar to the effect of standards in the computing industry such as the PC Card, U-SNAP promises to increase consumer choice of smart energy appliances by lowering the barrier for interoperable devices. U-SNAP will also improve the Smart Grid business case for utilities by lowering costs and enabling incremental deployment strategies when deploying communications to home energy devices like thermostats and appliances. In addition, U-SNAP modules reduce the risk of technology obsolescence by enabling incremental upgrade paths for communications and appliances over time.
"Trilliant supports the U-SNAP Alliance's goal of providing an inexpensive interface to enable virtually any consumer product to be connected to a the Smart Grid via a simple, standard plug-in card," according to Eric Miller, Senior Vice President of Solutions at Trilliant. "U-SNAP provides the true 'plug-and-play' interoperability standard that the utility, consumer appliance, and Smart Grid networking industries have been seeking for so long."
About Trilliant Incorporated
Trilliant Incorporated provides hardware, software and service solutions that deliver on the promise of Advanced Metering and Smart Grid to utilities and their customers including improved energy efficiency, grid reliability, lower operating cost, and integration of renewable energy resources. Since its original founding in 1985, Trilliant has been a leading innovator in the delivery and implementation of energy management systems, including advanced utility wireless data collection for residential and commercial customers, demand response, time-of-use billing, and critical peak pricing initiatives. Trilliant currently has more than 200 utility customers including Hydro One, the single-largest Smart Grid implementation in North America. For more information please visit http://www.trilliantinc.com.
All brands and names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.
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