As I watched numerous technology conferences this spring, I saw the Internet of Things (“IOT”) come alive. The Internet of Things is defined by Gartner, Inc. as follows:
“Gartner Inc., defines the Internet of Things as ‘the network of dedicated physical objects (things) that contain embedded technology to sense or interact with their internal state or external environment. The IoT comprises an ecosystem that includes things, communication, applications and data analysis.’”
Smart Homes are now the “in-thing.” We are connecting our homes to the internet and cloud at an amazing rate. A recent article entitled “The Future of the Smart Home is Now at CES,” Security Dealer & Integrator magazine, February 2015 noted:
“My biggest take-away from the giant Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas was the ascension of the connected home.”
Additionally the article notes:
“It’s true that CES is showcasing the ‘future’ of technology, but for the smart home, it is obvious that the future is now.”
Another article entitled “A sensored landscape,” by Tracy Maple, Internet Retailer Magazine, June 2015, further amplifies this trend. The article notes:
“Sensors are being embedded in billions of everyday devices, allowing coffeemakers to order filters and printers to order ink, and providing brands and retailers with unprecedented levels of consumer data. Welcome to the Internet of Things.”
Further, as noted in the article, you will have the following to look forward to:
“There will come a day, and James McQuivey is not even kidding as he says this, when consumers will welcome cameras in their bathroom mirror and shower stall. They won’t worry about cameras in their closet either, or that their toilet is equipped to analyze their waste for possible health problems, says the Forrester Research Inc. vice president and principal analyst.”
So, if this is the new world, how does it work? It extends far beyond just computers, tablets and cell phones. Again the article, A sensored landscape, gives a glimpse of how the world is changing.
“The Amazon Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) enables connected devices to order goods from Amazon when supplies run low – like a coffeemaker that orders more coffee beans. Poppy, through invention company Quirky, Inc., is a new line of smart appliances that includes an artisanal pour-over coffee machine, a baby formula maker, and a pet food dispenser that will measure remaining supplies and place an order using DRS before running out.”
Retailers like Amazon and manufacturers like Whirlpool and Nest are easing consumers into the concept of a connected home environment according to Tracy. Home Depot is working to show consumers how they might benefit from connected appliances and devices as well. Best Buy features a line of connected lights and thermostats.
By now you should be getting the idea that replenishment (of goods and materials) is a very big market. Instead of going to the store and buying things we need, we can have it done via automation. This is just the next wave of taking advantage of a market which has always existed in a “faster” and “perhaps more efficient manner”.
Gartner estimated the potential number of IoT devices over the next few years, according the article, and the numbers are staggering (per the following table).
| The Growth of Internet of Things devices | ||||
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2020 | |
| Number of consumer devices (in billions) | 1.84 | 2.24 | 2.87 | 13.17 |
| Total IoT units (in billions, all industries*) | 3.03 | 3.75 | 4.88 | 25.01 |
| *includes units intended for use in automotive, consumer, generic business, and vertical business areas. |
What does this “wonderful new world” built on technology have to do with the “grid”, or more precisely the electrical grid? How interconnected are they? It goes far beyond just charging electrical devices. Two very recent events in my life should help bring this into focus.
I received a phone call from my daughter last week. She and her husband, Henry, were experiencing the “perfect storm” on that morning. The power (electricity) was out at their house, probably due to the recent heavy rains. As Henry is an IT person, working to keep our technology functioning, he often works from home and is “on-call” a significant amount of the time. His job requires that he be connected to the internet and that his laptops and modems be powered by the grid. On that morning, he could do neither.
Normally in this situation, he would have gotten in his car and driven to a local “hotspot” which had power and internet connectivity, had a coffee drink and continued to work. However, that same morning, the garage door spring broke, so he could not raise the door to get his car out. Hence, they called me. I picked him up and brought him down to our house where there was both electricity and internet connectivity. He plugged in his laptop and connected to our internet and went back to work (sadly without the coffee drink). While, in this instance, his garage door failure was mechanical, think what would have happened in this new IoT world when the car, smart home and garage door were connected to the internet and to each other (hint – the result could have been the same).
The second situation occurred as I write this blog. My internet went down and Comcast could not get a repair person out to our house for three days. I replaced the cable modem but to no avail. My internal network, wired and wireless works, but without connectivity to the internet or the cloud. Many of my documents are stored in the cloud, but fortunately I have them on hard drive as well (known as a hybrid storage solution). This lack of connectivity impacts both my wife’s business and my financial trading business. Fortunately, the Comcast system came back up a few hours later.
So as the number of connected sensors multiply, what will the impact of an interruption of either the electrical grid or the internet mean? As seen in the examples, it was an inconvenience but not an insurmountable challenge.
In the not too distant future, when you are living in your “smart home,” it might still be an inconvenience relative to your connected coffeemaker, crock pot, pet food dispenser or even your refrigerator and washing machine. But what about the other devices in our “smart society” such as connected heart monitors, dialysis machines or the sensors in your self-driving car and roadway? How about your job? Since many more of us will probably be working from home, how will you connect with your co-workers and management? What about the new self-driving semi-truck convoys, with their sensors, computers and wireless connectivity, which are projected to be in use in the next few years?
I discuss this type of a future in my EPub entitled “World Collapse or New Eden” through the predictions presented and followed from 2008 to today. There are many ways for this new future to enhance and bless our lives but only if our infrastructure is dependable and stable.
Current political discussion from both parties (I call them the “R”s and “D”s) pay only very distant lip service to the vulnerability of our modern infrastructure, especially the water supply system and the electrical grid. These are two infrastructure components which are absolutely critical to our society and way of life. For example, scientists have noted the possibility of major solar flares which could, if strong enough, could totally disrupt, if not, destroy our electrical grid. The solution is apparently reasonably simple and not extremely expensive. However, neither the politicians nor the corporate owners of the utilities are interested in bothering with a fix. In fact, over the last few administrations and corresponding Congressional sessions (regardless of party), I have noted that funding has been drastically reduced for both of these infrastructures.
It seems both the utilities and the politicians, mentioned above, are more interested in their bottom lines and portfolios than doing what is best to protect our infrastructure long-term. As more and more devices become connected, both in our homes and our workplaces, these challenges will continue to get more and more critical.
This is why I believe there is no significant difference (other than the bank account) between candidates named Hilary, Romney, Walker, Bush, Christy, Pelosi, Reid and essentially all the other mainstream candidates or potential candidates in the upcoming 2016 U.S. presidential or congressional races. The only exception in the presidential race, in my opinion, is Rand Paul. He is truly an outsider with ideas which will benefit the middle and lower classes, not the elites. Because the beneficiaries of Mr. Paul’s ideas are not the elites, he will be marginalized by all of those mentioned above, the main stream media (MSM) and the power structure manipulating the elections.
The challenge of the decaying electrical grid is real. It is both the fault of the political system and the utilities which own it. These quasi-private companies are unwilling to take a long term view of the grid, because of their bottom line. In essence, next quarters profits are more important than the well-being of the next generation. The political system, as mentioned above, has its own agenda which does not include what is best for the middle and lower classes or the stability of our infrastructure. In my own experience, I have noted over the years, whether “R”s or “D”s are in power, that funding for water supply systems are often “cut” (except to the largest utilities and districts) to make way for other more lucrative (for the political stakeholders) programs.
So what is to be done? Well, there are a few visionaries. One is Elon Musk with his battery storage/solar concept. In essence, he has made a business of equipping homes with solar panels and now wants to add storage batteries to the mix.
Net metering is the concept that owners of roof top solar systems pay for the panels and connections to the grid. Any electricity they produce over what they use is sold back to the utility at a negotiated rate. However, this reduces the amount of revenue to the utility as the owners of roof top solar panels apply electrical production towards their usage before getting paid for electricity. The theory is that if the owner of the panels is willing to invest in the system, this is money the utility does not have to spend for additional generation capacity. However, the utility does have to maintain the existing grid and its reserve electrical capacity.
A recent article entitled “Batteries Are Carving Out Space on the Grid,” by Thomas W. Overton JD, Power Magazine, May 2015 noted:
“Behind the meter storage has thus far been almost entirely confined to commercial systems designed to reduce demand charges. But storage paired with solar photovoltaic (PV) generation is drawing increasing attention.
… very few residential customers [with PV systems] pay demand charges, meaning there is no economic incentive to install storage.”
“That, however, may change rapidly because of the pressures on net metering and its effect on utility revenue. A possible harbinger of things to come occurred in late February [2015] when Arizona utility Salt River Project changed its rate structure to include a demand charge for customers with roof-top solar. While the intent was to close a revenue gap, observers noted that the move also opens the door to residential storage … Roof top solar firm SolarCity immediately sued to overturn the decision, but it is also poised to cash in on it through its partnership with Tesla – the two companies have paired to offer solar-plus storage systems.”
As you can see, the idea of having roof top solar owners pay a demand charge negates the principle of investing in the generation capacity of the utility. These owners would be better off by buying a utility bond than investing in roof top solar if there is a demand charge. However, in the long run, this is very counterproductive.
Adding battery storage counters this “demand charge” by allowing the solar users to use electricity darning very low rate hours (at night) for large applications such as washing machines, and car charging. Usage during the day would be minimal, with batteries supplementing large use applications such as air conditioning. The solar panels would recharge the batteries during the day, and very little electricity would be sold back to the utility. With enough batteries, and an efficient smart home, this would make the solar owner look “off-grid” to the utility with the grid tie used only for emergency periods.
These demand charges maintain the “status-quo” of a very centralized electrical grid, rather than a much more stable and efficient decentralized grid. The utilities retain their monopoly position of power and influence with very little regard for what is best for the future of this country or the global economy.
However, the fact remains that without significant insight, vision, discussion and investment in our electrical grid, the coming technological revolution will be slowed. The electrical grid is the life blood of this new technological revolution, and in my opinion, the patient is not doing at all well.
Just like internet access, which is becoming less and less affordable to many people, electrical energy may become available to fewer and fewer people due to global population increase, rising energy demand and lack of modern infrastructure. Think of going several days or weeks without connectivity. While you can certainly survive without your cell phone, taking “selfies” or texting, what about the billions of electrical sensors and chips in our increasingly automated, robotic factories, farms and societies? What about our water supply systems which increasing use smart meters and smart pumping stations to treat and deliver water? What about the very complex life giving medical systems in hospitals, which are part of what my son-in-law Henry helps maintain?
As you can see, these new smart homes with connected crock pots, coffeemakers, refrigerators, stoves and washing machines, not to mention the computers and cell phones, are very dependent on both the internet and electrical grid. The more computer conferences I attend or read about (most of which are on the internet by the way), the more concerned I am about the global future for my two granddaughters. This concern comes not because of the fascinating and innovative technology but because of the lack of significant vision, action, ideals and leadership from our political system as well as the absolute greed of our global corporate/government system which manages and controls the majority of the world’s resources.
Sincerely,
H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
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