Toshiba to demonstrate home energy monitoring system in France

Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Solutions Corporation have started to demonstrate a home energy monitoring system and community management system (CMS) in Lyon, France.

The demonstration is a part of the Lyon Confluence Smart Community Demonstration Project developed by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), with support from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The home energy monitoring system demonstration will measure real-time use of electricity, water and gas by installing measuring equipment in distribution boards and water and gas meters in public apartment houses in the redevelopment area. Measured data will be visualised on tablets distributed to the residents. The tablets will also show the power consumption of individual home appliances and provide advice on ways to save energy as a means to enhance the residents’ awareness of the environment and to encourage them to reduce energy use. The effects of these efforts will be verified.

Starting with the home energy monitoring system and an electric vehicle sharing system that uses solar energy to recharge vehicles, initiated in October 2013 as another part of the renovation program, the CMS demonstration will collect data and visualise total energy usage in the development area, to support development of a smart community.

Toshiba Group will analyse energy usage data and share it with Grand Lyon Community, which will determine whether it can be reflected in the redevelopment plan or strategies for achieving improved energy efficiency.

The Lyon Confluence Smart Community Demonstration Project is NEDO’s first demonstration project in Europe and it targets achievement of the EU’s 2020 environmental targets, ‘20-20-20’, five years earlier than the 2020 target year, including achieving zero emissions in the redevelopment area.

The project is utilising technologies that Japanese companies have developed as a means to help achieve high-level energy efficiency, and Toshiba Group is the coordinator of the Japanese companies involved in the project. Toshiba and Toshiba Group intend to utilise the outcomes of the project to refine technologies that will create extended smart communities and proactively seek to expand global business by cooperating with governments and autonomous bodies.