Involving some of the first residents of Masdar City, the program will test how GE smart (or demand response enabled) appliances and Home Energy Manager (HEM) can lower power demand in the home and across the city.
GE designed and manufactured the appliances and networks for this pilot. The equipment will be installed in early 2010 in the first building to be completed at Masdar City, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.
James Campbell, president and CEO of GE Consumer & Industrial, said: “The GE smart appliances used in the pilot will be the first in the world to provide two-way communication and built-in advanced energy management functionality that will reduce power demand in response to notification of changing utility prices and energy demand, while also measuring and transmitting real-time power consumption data.
“Participating in such a significant, globally relevant experience by bringing leadership technology to this program is extremely exciting for our business.”
Ten of the Masdar Institute’s 100 residences will participate in the two-year pilot project. According to GE Consumer & Industrial, the information developed from the program will provide early feedback in testing consumers’ energy-consumption behavior in the face of Demand-Response technology, and assist Masdar City in planning and designing its smart power grid in order to achieve its carbon-neutral, zero-waste, and renewable-energy-powered objectives.
The Masdar City pilot project comes as part of the relationship between GE and the Mubudala Development Company, of which Masdar is a wholly owned subsidiary, which extends to a range of initiatives in the fields of aviation, commercial finance, industry and corporate learning.
The pilot residences in the Masdar Institute building will be equipped with a HEM and European-style and size demand response-enabled refrigerators, cooktops and combination clothes washers/dryers that work on 220volt/50HZ platforms.
During the pilot, the HEM and appliances will receive signals from the grid, which will simulate peak energy usage periods. In response, the HEM and smart appliances will customize the appliances’ responses to save energy, reducing energy demand on the grid.
