Shining a light on energy consumption.
What if industrial building managers could see exactly how much energy their building is using, where in the building that energy is going, and how much it is costing them at every moment to use that energy? How much energy could be saved?
One Israeli company is bringing a new device to market that will make all these things possible: Panaromic Power has developed a self-powered wireless circuit sensor that can collect data on energy usage, integrate it, and relay that information in real-time, through a cloud-based (SaaS) P3E platform, to a single dashboard.
Over the last decade and a half, Israel has become famous for its high-tech industry that has created patented devices for a wide range of industries in the global market. But combining cleantech and energy efficiency technology with high-tech advances is a relatively new breakthrough for the industry, one that financial backers like venture-capital firm Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV) is working hard to support.
Metering for energy savings is something that is popular across every industry, said one of ICV’s three parterns Jack Levy in an interview with me. He said Panaromic Power realized how important energy data is to almost everyone–retail stores, supermarkets, hospitals, industrial factories–and worked hard to innovative both hardware and software that would provide accurate data relatively cheaply.
Levy added that in difficult economic times Panoramic Power’s devices are actually more likely to be sold, because customers are looking for ways to save money. With the promise of a relatively quick return on investment, which can be multiplied as businesses compare notes and share their energy data, metering devices are actually very attractive these days.
“Panoramic Power’s technology helps energy, facility and corporate managers dramatically reduce a building’s energy and operations costs by providing a level of understanding about power consumption never dreamed of before. Information is truly power in this case,” said Dr. David Almagor, CEO of Panoramic Power, in a company statement.
But abundant energy data also comes with a cost. Hackers and competitors can see extremely detailed information about a company or business if they get their hands on a data sheet. That concern might be less worrisome though for a commercial building than for a residential building, a space Panomaric Power has yet to penetrate.
But Panoramic Power has done quite well in establishing its importance for the industrial and commercial markets. It has not only secured private funding from Israel Cleantech Ventures. It is also being funded by California-based VC Greylock Partners, Qualcomm, The Israel Electric Company, and Clal Energy. The company also received critical research and development funding in 2010 from BIRD — the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation, a joint fund of the U.S. Department of Energy and Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructures.
Although it just went commerical this week, Panoramic Power has already had it public debut in the United States. In April 2010 the California Israel Chamber of Commerce selected 10 Israeli cleantech companies to present at the annual CICC Cleantech Tour and Showcase. One of them was Panoramic Power.
Image of electric circuitry from Shutterstock
