To save energy, thermostat becomes mini computer

There are dozens of companies making in-home displays designed to help consumers shave energy use at home. But SilverPac is packing many of those features into a high-tech thermostat.

SilverPac, which makes digital picture frames and other media electronics, on Monday introduced the SilverStat 7, a sleek device that combines the heating and cooling controls of a programmable thermostat with a real-time energy display.

The company plans to show the energy management system at the Consumer Electronics Show, which starts later this week, then release it in June.

The thermostat is built around a 7-inch touch-screen display that runs Windows CE on Intel's Atom processor. It has a Wi-Fi interface that will allow it to get electricity usage information from smart meters and talk to network-aware appliances on a home wireless network.

It has built-in speakers to play FM radio or music streamed from a home network. People can also use the device as a calendar.

According to the company, SilverPac's in-home energy display will rely on getting information from a smart meter, which means that it won't be accessible to everyone. Even with millions of smart meters expected to be installed over the next three years, many utilities will not be making meter information available over home wireless networks, in part because of security concerns.

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Google Energy' subsidiary considers clean power

Google took a step toward entering the energy business with the creation of a subsidiary called Google Energy and a request with a federal agency to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market.

The search giant formed a Delaware-based company called Google Energy on December 16 of last year, according to Delaware state records. The Federal Register on Tuesday referenced Google Energy's request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency with oversight over the power grid.

Rather than represent a shift beyond Google's core search business, though, the moves are meant to give Google flexibility in pursuing its corporate goal of carbon neutrality, according to a Google representative.

"Right now, we can't buy affordable, utility-scale, renewable energy in our markets," said Google representative Niki Fenwick. "We want to buy the highest quality, most affordable renewable energy wherever we can and use the green credits."

Google already has a very large, 1.6-megawatt solar installation at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. But having the ability to buy and sell electricity the way utilities do gives Google the flexibility to use much larger amounts of renewable energy to offset the energy consumption of its operations.

"We don't have any concrete plans. We want the ability to buy and sell electricity in case it becomes part of our portfolio," Fenwick said.

Google is seeking to become a carbon-neutral company by improving the efficiency of its operations, including its energy-hungry data centers. It also has a program of purchasing "high-quality" carbon offsets and it has invested in a renewable energy companies through its philanthropic arm, Google.org.

Google.org has funded technology start-ups in solar, enhanced geothermal, and wind. It also developed PowerMeter, a Web-based home electricity monitoring application offered primarily through utilities.

Outside of those efforts, Google employees are active in exploring the intersection of IT and energy, such as ways to use a network of electric car batteries to stabilize grid frequency. Google also created a partnership with General Electric to lobby for policies to promote clean energy.

At an event to discuss U.S. energy policy last November, Google's director of energy and climate initiatives, Dan Reicher, also indicated that Google could get involved in financing large-scale renewable energy projects, according to reports.

Over the past two years, Google has been active in pushing clean energy and efficiency in a variety of ways without becoming directly involved in the business the way a utility is. Making a request with FERC to buy and sell energy for a company outside the utility business is a highly unusual move, experts told Energy & Environment Daily, which reported on Google Energy on Wednesday.

"It's interesting that they'd want to take on the burdens of being a FERC-regulated public utility," John Decker, a partner in the energy regulation practice at Washington, D.C.'s Vinson & Elkins, told Energy & Environment Daily. But, Decker said, "there's no substitute for actually being in the industry if you want to learn about it."

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