Google PowerMeter, for controlling power consumption
PowerMeter: this is the name of the last invention of Google. It is a software able to measure how consuming appliances in a home. In this way its creators hope to encourage a more correct use of energy resources by stimulating, through monitoring and cost savings, an energy more responsibly.
Russ Mirov, an engineer of Google.org, has tested the software first and thanks to it is able to save 64% of energy, which results in a saving of $ 3,000 per year. The mission of PowerMeter is therefore to better quantify the consumption of each home device.
PowerMeter is connected to appliances so that you can monitor performance in real time and then generate an animated graphic that is displayed on the computer where it is installed.
The whole thing is based on smart power: special adapters wi-fi to be applied to electrical outlets, and able to send information to the computer useful in measuring the consumption moment by moment. Following the software processes of the graphs to give users an idea of waste that can be remedied.
In this way, each family can learn to limit their consumption to benefit both the environment and the wallet. According to some studies, in fact, access to information about home energy savings will occur between 5 and 15 percent on your electricity bill.
Currently the project is only a prototype, but you think that already a few months could be released a public version. To achieve this goal I will have to ally with the largest producers and distributors of electronic components to enable devices to communicate with PowerMeter.
For now, the prototype of this software is available only to a few employees of Bigg because, for it to work, you have to equip themselves with a particular instrument. In the future, the application may be made available free of charge as one of the many gadgets in iGoogle be used in combination with counter (to buy) created ad hoc.
This project is part of the logic of a broader strategy of Google time to invest several hundred million dollars in the renewable energy sector, improvement of electricity grids and, in general, to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Recently, the field of technology for the control and containment of consumption has proved to be one of the most dynamic IT. Consider that this has been put Obama in the middle of its package "anti-crisis" devoting to the production of its newly designed power meter on a budget of no less than $ 4 billion.
It was therefore expected that, now that the environment is the focus of many, the most popular search engine in the world would not have pulled back in the face of this challenge.
In fact, the Mountain View giant has already invested in several companies that are interested in solar, wind and geothermal energy, and two others that deal with "smart grid." These smart energy grids are taken to move electricity between long-distance transmission lines, local lines and end users with greater efficiency and reduced costs.
Meanwhile, other major companies are preparing to debut in this market. For example, Microsoft would have already committed to the development of a software measurement of the same type of PowerMeter, while General Electric would seem interested in working with Google. And both Cisco and IBM would also be on the point of plunging into the fray.
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Translated via software
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Source:
Italian version of CercaGeometra.it