Home Energy Monitors Getting Wise to Solar

Companies are developing ways to track energy usage in homes equipped with solar panels. Solar City, a company that leases solar panels, introduced new software that displays panels’ production alongside a home’s electricity usage. If PV generation is not enough people can therefore decide to rather run washing at night when electricity is much cheaper. According to the company, the biggest energy-efficiency challenge is not changing light bulbs but changing behaviour, and being able to measure consumptions is a good way to encourage change of behaviour.

OpenEnergy a solar panel maker is also developing a device that can show solar panel production alongside electricity usage and can also pull in gas and water usage. The product is set to cost between $1100 and $1400.

Original article: Martin LaMonica. CNet News. 15 October 2008. Read more…