Electricity stealing a problem common in poor countries such as India. Electricity stealing leads to a loss of about 50% in the revenue collected. It is not just an economic issue but its a safety issue as well!

However, people still steal electricity due to the following prevalent reasons:

Harmonic is the steady state distortion of the fundamental frequency  (e.g. 60Hz). There are two types of harmonics distortions and they are current distortion and voltage distortion. Harmonic distortion of current happens because a sinusoidal voltage is applied to non-linear loads such as electronic ballast, PLC, adjustable speed drives, arc furnaces and any ac/dc converters. This will cause a distortion of the fundamental current waveform Voltage distortion is generated indirectly due to the harmonic currents flowing through the distribution system.

Harmonics can cause:

• overheating of transformers & rotating equipment
• increased hysteresis losses
• wasted energy/high electricity bills

Apparent power = S

•  The amount of energy drawn from the supply to the device / system.
• Measured by a volt meter & an amp meter

Reactive power= Q

•  Caused by inductive or capacitive loads.

True power or Active power = P

• The real usable power available.
• Measured by a watt meter

Power factor = cos [phase angle also known as θ ( it is called theta)]

•  a number between 0 and 1
• Power factor is obtained by the the division of the apparent power over the true power.

The ideal power factor is 1, and that is known as the “unity power factor”. Achieving a power factor of 1 is the main aim of any electric utility company because if their power factor is less than 1 they need to supply more current and this will result in more line losses. Power factor correction can be done by installing capacitors to the the reactive power side.

Here is an example on how the power factor is calculated

If you are still unsure what power factor is, I have added a fun photo about it refer to the photo below

Joanna Chew

Intraix

SINGAPORE, Singapore—February 19, 2013— Singapore-based Startup, Intraix Pte. Ltd. today announced a collaboration partnership with Japanese Company – Smart Integration Inc to develop and market a Smart HEMS (Home Energy Management Solution) caters to the market of Japan. The HEMS System will be available in both Web and IOS platform and will be made available primarily in the provinces of Nara,Tokyo and Okinawa from June 2013 before extending to other regions in Japan.

“ We are very thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Smart Integration team and they have displayed and conveyed out-of-the-box marketing strategies to take the Japanese Market by storm,” said Mr. Bryan Lee, Intraix’s Co-Founder. “The depletion of natural energy sources as well as the unexpected Tsunami incident in Japan ‘ 2011 has certainly signaled and propelled the need for Home Energy Management Systems in the Japanese Market. Moreover, the presence of government grants in the market certainly pushed the benchmark further for easier technology adoption in the market,” echoed Mr. Darrell Zhang, Intraix’s Co-Founder.

Riding on the success of the Intraix Mobile App launch with Singapore’s Southwest CDC (Community Development Council) earlier in January, the Intraix HEMS designed for the Japanese market will be significantly different from the local version. The Intraix HEMS will  come with more features such as energy budgeting, energy consumption predictions amongst many. The System will also involve the installation of a Power Meter within the household for data collection and the backend will involve the development of a proprietary Data Analysis Engine – GreenVoices™ Algorithm which can provide feedback to the end users to help in their energy consumption. In a nutshell, Intraix HEMS makes energy saving easy, fun and rewarding.

Intraix finds a great honor and challenge to work with Smart Integration Inc, who’s founders are owners of another successful venture – SOUSEI株式会社, a Property Developer for Smart Homes based out of Nara, Japan. “Intraix has been working with Smart Integration for the past 4 months on technology road-mapping as well as contractual details. It is indeed tough but rewarding,” exclaimed Mr. Kazumasa Nomura, CEO of Smart Integration Inc. Smart Integration  Inc will come in as an Exclusive Distributor of the Intraix HEMS System in Japan and will work with  various agent companies in the building development and Renewable Energy domain to push the system out to the market. Smart Integration Inc aims to reach 5,000 to 8,000 homes in the first year and an additional 14,000 in the following year. At current count, they have eight agent companies on board throughout Japan.

Full Press Release Download here : Intraix Press Release – 20:02:2013

Here’s a quick introductory video we found on CFLs.

” In comparison, CFLs use 75% less energy and last 10x longer. Changing a bulb to CFL can save USD40 over the entire lifetime of the lightbulb ”

This isn’t the first indication AT&T is getting into home energy and the digital home. In 2010,  AT&T acquired Xanboo, a decade-old firm that was one of the original home automation players which enables home owners to monitor security, energy consumption and digital media across devices.

Is it a model that can be replicated in the Asian context? In Singapore particularly, there had been no energy management packages offered by the Mobile Party of 3 – Singtel, Starhub and M1. There had been some rumors going around that Singtel is talking to a “Chinese Company” to offer energy management services ( Is there anyone that can verify that? ) but nothing concrete has been heard yet.

” We also work with a variety of third party consumer vendors in this space. When they need connectivity for their devices. Some of the company that do what the things OPower does -  have sim cards that provide connections embedded in their devices. We provide connectivity for that “

- Jeffrey Dygert, Executive Director Public Policy, AT&T

It remains very pivotal that Smart Grid Vendors works with these companies. Connectivity is of immense importance to companies that intent to march into the Smart Grid Industry. The Smart Grid is all about data and how fast/often/frequent they can be transmitted and processed into useful information. Data needs to be transmitted out to servers for data processing and how better to do it than collaborating with the Broadband Service providers?

The Broadband Partner will gain greater access and penetration into households while offering a value-added service which can be used to distinguish itself from its competitors, while the vendors gain traction and economies of scale when you implement the technology via a country-wide channel.

” The bottom line is we can’t have a 21st Century Clean Energy Economy with a 20th Century Grid”

- Nick Sinai, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Building a Smart Grid Company or forming up a piece of the Smart Grid Jigsaw can never be a one-party initiative – An Ecosystem has to be built along with 21st Century Smart Grid Ecosystem.

The YEA, jointly organised by Canon and MediaCorp, is designed to help budding entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 to 40 turn their start-up idea into a real business with cash and technological solutions, courtesy of Canon.

1st Runner-Up
Bryan Lee & Darrell Zhang

Bryan and Darrell’s business idea tackles a real world problem that is all too familiar to homeowners or business owners ・the need to minimise energy costs. Called Intraix, their low-cost energy management system provides an alternative to current energy solutions that may prove too costly and impractical to implement.

By taking their idea to the YEA, the team obtained useful advice and validation from renowned entrepreneurs such as Ms. Elim Chew (President and Founder, 77th Street), Dr. Low Lee Yong (CEO and Founder, MHC Asia Group), Ms. Goh Yiping (Co-Founder, AllDealsAsia.com) and Mr. Michel Birnbaum (Partner, iGlobe Partners) who made up the panel of judges for the contest.

Sharing with us their experience, Darrell said, “It was a great taking part in the YEA; the panel was firm and very engaging. In fact, they provided good feedback and helped refine our business and revenue model for the company.”

The $3,000 prize money and $6,000 in Canon business products are sure to come in handy for the team as well.

“The prize money will be channelled into the development of the Intraix solution and the sponsored products will help in the operations of the company. At the same time, the win also raised the profile of Intraix, which is beneficial for the company at this early stage,” Darrell commented.

Read the full article here

Appliances that are manufactured today are typically much more efficient. As appliances age, their efficiency decreases. Knowing the age and life expectancy of your electric appliances can help you understand your electrical use.

Replacement
If your appliances are at or nearing the end of their expected life, you may plan ahead. When replacing old appliances pay particular attention to energy efficiency. In most cases, the energy-efficient choice will save you money.

Operating cost per hour can be estimated if you know:

1. Wattage of the appliance
2. Cost of electricity (cost per KWh)

To estimate the number of kWh (units of electricity used in one hour) first determine:

1. The wattage of the appliance from its nameplate
2. Apply the following formula:

Wattage x 1 (hour) = kWh   (units of electricity used per hour) 
1000

To figure operating cost per hour: kWh (units used) x Cost/KWh=Cost/hour

To determine average cost per kWh from your electric bill:

Phase 1 (2010-2012) will focus on the implementation of the enabling infrastructure for the IES. The key infrastructure components are the advanced metering infrastructure (commonly referred to as “smart meters”) and the communication system. Smart meters are equipped with communications capabilities, and provide both energy providers and consumers with detailed information on how much electricity is being used and fed into the grid. A good communications network is crucial for such information flows to be handled seamlessly. Hence a key emphasis in this first phase of the pilot will be to establish the smart metering communication protocols and standards. This will be done by leveraging on the Next Generation National Broadband Network and other communication platforms.

Phase 2 (2012-2013) of the pilot will focus on the smart grid applications. Customers with the smart meters installed in their premises will be able to experience the benefits of the IES through various services offered by the electricity retailers. Residential customers will be able to monitor their energy consumption on a real-time basis with convenient in-home display devices. They can also choose from a range of electricity pricing plans, thus allowing them to better manage their consumption and budgets, for example, by shifting their usage from peak to off-peak periods when electricity prices are lowest.

For industrial and commercial customers, the IES also offers several applications to manage their energy needs. For example, improved energy management systems riding on the smart meters will provide timely access of information for businesses to optimize and reduce their electricity consumption. Building owners can also install automation systems that include special programmable thermostats and other devices to monitor and control the building’s air-conditioning, lighting and mechanical systems.

Article Source: http://siew.sg/energy-perspectives/energy-singapore/singapore-smart-grid-city

Understanding the business environment is one of the key aspect for #startups. Smart gird development in Singapore is like a big piece of map, make a guess where do you think Intraix falls into?

Developing applications and services to help consumers understand and control their energy use is a field ripe for American innovation.”

-  US Energy Secretary Steven Chu

All Washing Machines must now be labelled – Feng Zengkun, Straits Times 28th September 2011

I’m pretty sure that many people have no idea how much water your washing machine is draining every wash and how much more water efficient a three-tick washing machine can be in comparison to a zero/one-tick washing machine. Looking around, here are the statistics drawn from this page :

Putting the numbers into comparison:

LG 3-tick Washing Machine (WD-12320RD) consumes 7.60 litres of water / kg of load while Tecno Unrated Washing Machine (TWA 7099) consumes 21.6 litres of water / kg.

Maybe amount of water doesn’t make much monetary sense – Converting them to dollars and cents, we get the following (according to water tariff of S$1.17 / m3)

Assuming a full load of 8kg of clothing, every wash will incur the following.

LG WD-12320RD : 7.1 cents

Tecno TWA 7099 : 20.2 cents

Multiplying that by the number of people in a common household (4 pax) and a washing frequency of once a week.

LG WD-12320RD : S$1.14 /  Month

Tecno TWA 7099 : S$3.23 /  Month

The numbers may not be as significant but put it over a equipment lifespan of 20 years, you are effectively saving S$500 over the entire period. *Note: we have yet to factor in additional Electricity Usage and Costs.

Now think again, is it worth saving that initial 200+ on a lower rating equipment, and you end up having to spend more on water + electricity and having a higher risk of equipment breakdown?

Just Imagine how much more can be accomplished with that additional 3,000 litres of drinkable water every year.