Panasonic Electric Works' Home Energy System Helps People Visualize Use of Electricity, Gas, Water

Panasonic Electric Works Co. of Japan announced on April 7, 2010, that it finished developing an advanced model of its Lifinity Home Energy Management System (HEMS), which has been on the market for newly built houses since December 2007. The new system monitors the consumption of gas and water in addition to electricity.

The Lifinity HEMS helps residents to save energy by providing a visual representation of the amount of electricity consumed in their homes. Using data from electric-current sensors connected to individual circuits in a distribution board, the Lifinity displays the electricity consumption of each circuit in real time. The system's control panel also shows annual, monthly, daily, and hourly amount of consumption and the progress toward energy-conservation targets. These images can also be displayed on a television or computer screen.

Panasonic Electric Works intends to release the newest model in the fall of 2010 after conducting evaluation and demonstration experiments. This model will be installed in a large condominium in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture, scheduled to be completed in late March 2011 as part of the city's low-carbon society project.

The company hopes that by enabling residents to visualize their energy consumption and become more aware of energy conservation, it can help reverse the trend of growing carbon dioxide emissions in the residential sector.

Panasonic to Develop Home Energy Management System Linked to Smart Grid (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029778.html

Panasonic Electric Works global site
http://panasonic-electric-works.net/

Posted: 2010/07/21 06:00:15 AM