There has been a lot of buzz (GigaOm, TG Daily, Wired, Fast Company) about Google’s foray into the energy market. Working with GE and other energy companies Google hopes to bring networked meters into the home.
By having accessible/real time metrics for household power consumption consumers can make real attempts at saving power. Much like the MPG meters in newer vehicle:
Trying to use as little fuel as you can, by driving more smoothly and being a little less heavy on the accelerator, can even become a game of sorts. Nissan, a Japanese carmaker, has calculated that fuel-efficiency gauges can reduce fuel consumption by an average of 10%, so it has decided to put them in all its cars.
Similar effects would be seen in the home.
After you have set up the device you get the first shock: why is the house using so much electricity? Walking around and switching things off soon reveals where savings can be made: lights left on during the day, a television the children are not watching and a surprising number of power supplies keeping themselves warm while the things they are connected to are in “standby” mode.
Google’s efforts take it one (crucial) step further. By aggregating this data in the cloud and presenting it in a friendly manner, consumer’s can’t help but be curious. Hopefully this curiosity leads to a more energy conscious mentality, even if it is just a game.
This is a huge opportunity for Google. I’m curious how they plan to incorporate/monetize this data.
