Energate, Inc. has achieved certification for its Pioneer Smart Thermostat on the latest approved standard Smart Energy Profile, version 1.1 (SEP 1.1). SEP 1.1 interoperability allows utilities and their customers to take advantage of the added capabilities provided by SEP 1.1 including over-the-air updates and the ability for meters to coexist with gateways.
Further, Energate recently demonstrated interoperability using an early version of the SEP 2.0 application specification over ZigBee, the most often utility-specified communication link, with its current Pioneer Z100 Smart Thermostat. The Pioneer is among the first group of ZigBee-compatible devices to reach this milestone and successfully execute load control using SEP 2.0, an evolving specification.
On Aug. 15, 2011, the draft 0.7 of the SEP 2.0 specification was approved by participating members of the HomePlug Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance, HomeGrid Forum and the ZigBee Alliance—of which Energate is a voting member and supports the draft.
While the final SEP 2.0 specification is not currently ready for general use, Energate’s SEP 1.1 certification and experience with SEP 2.0 on the same hardware platform provides utilities with future-aware devices today.
Energate’s smart thermostats feature advanced environmental control algorithms that accurately and precisely control the temperature. Equipped with Energate’s proprietary silent switching technology and a menu-driven interface with extensive help screens, Energate smart thermostats support many types of demand response programs and are fully upgradeable over a variety of communications platforms. Energate technology has proven interoperable with all major AMI networks including Silver Spring Networks, Itron, Landis & Gyr, Elster and Trilliant.
“The passage of this latest version of the SEP 2.0 specification and our ability to remain interoperable with this emerging standard is important for a number of reasons,” said Energate CTO Jorge Deligiannis. “We have already proven interoperability with SEP 1.0 and 1.1, both of which are well suited to deliver the capabilities that consumers and utilities need and expect. The SEP 2.0 specification will build on the experience gained from SEP 1 and expand communications options for residential smart energy devices sending and receiving information to make the grid even smarter. Because we’ve designed our demand response product portfolio from the ground up to support multiple communications protocols, we’re well positioned to remain interoperable as the SEP 2.0 specification continues to evolve.”
Both SEP 1.0 and 2.0 were selected in 2009 by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as standard profiles for smart energy management of in-home devices. SEP 2.0 is an upgrade of the ZigBee focused first-generation standard to support internet protocol.
