CES 2021 | Smart Sustainable Homes | Schneider Electric
(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone. And welcome to this Schneider Electric Spotlight. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Jai Thampi and I'm the Global Head of Strategy and Innovation at the Home and Distribution Division of Schneider Electric. And what a surreal experience this is. After being in Vegas for CES every January, for the past 17 years.
This year, I'm joining all of you digitally from my home here in warm sunny Singapore. Today, I'll start with an introduction of who we are and why we are here at CES. Then I'll be announcing four exciting innovations that we are bringing to market. One of which has already received this year's CES innovation award. Then my colleagues will take you through these innovations in detail.
By the end of this session, I'm pretty certain that you will have a different point of view about what the homes of the future would look like and why and how Schneider is going to transform the homes of the future. So, let's begin. To tell you more about who Schneider Electric is, shall we watch a short video? - [Narrator] The world is full of people telling you who to believe they are.
Well, we though we'd tell you who we're not. Let's start here. We're not in shipping. We don't make lifts. Seriously, no lifts.
We do this. We're good at this. And we make all of these. And even though you'll find us here and here we don't make energy. We make you save it.
And you'll be saving the environment, too. Are we an internet company? Well, we connect and power just about everything around you. Helping machines talk to each other, and to you making your world more personal. We're seeking out the big questions and answering them honestly.
Like, "How can we make the most of our energy and resources?" Or, "Can we make access to energy and digital, basic human, rights?" We're real people, employees, developers partners, investors, and inventors all passionate about doing what's right. We're open. Humans of all sorts from all over learning from each other and about each other. We're not here to save the world. It'll go on with or without us.
We're here to be your digital partner for sustainability and efficiency. To Ensure Life Is On Everywhere for everyone at every moment. - So to recap, at Schneider Electric, we believe that access to energy is everyone's right. With our work, we ensure that life is on for everyone everywhere at every moment. If you're wondering why this matters at CES 2021, come on this journey with me. Smart homes have been center stage at CES for more than a decade.
We have been using digital technologies to automate lighting, heating, security, entertainment and even home appliances for years now. And the result? Our smart homes have become rooms filled with gadgets. Consumers around the world are becoming allergic to these glorified remote controls that get peddled a smart home. But the future is more electric and more digital. True value of smart homes will be delivered when energy management becomes part of this value proposition.
At Schneider Electric, we take pride that we keep one out of five homes in the world, safe from electrical hazards. And we give homeowners a level of insight that allows them to take control of their homes, their wallet and their carbon footprint. This is our vision for the home of the future. A home that is not just smart, but smart and sustainable. And Schneider is leading this transformation.
To support this transformation, we are announcing four exciting innovations at this year's CES. First ,the Wiser Energy Center. When we speak of smart homes, the electrical panel is not something that would come top of mind for you.
And this is gonna change. With the next evolution of the future panel board, what we call the energy center. As homes become more electric for heating cooking appliances and electric vehicles. While more solar and storage appear as energy sources the home of the future will require a smart electrical panel and an energy management system, a software application.
This combination is, Wiser. The second innovation, is a product we call Acti9 Active. Like how that wearable on your wrist informs you of your heart rate and other health indicators, the Acti9 Active device can sit any any of our existing electrical panels and monitor the health of your home. The third innovation, is an Efficient Temperature Control System integrated inside our Wiser smart home ecosystem. It allows intelligent room by room control. And the last innovation is PowerTag.
Arguably the smallest wireless energy sensor in the world. It is a simple plug and play device that sits inside the electrical panel and measures energy and power in real time. This is the ideal solution for renovation. And it can also help you maximize your renewable energy usage.
Before I hand over this session to my colleagues to show you more details on these four innovations, let's take a quick look at why are we leading this transformation? And it all starts with sustainability. We've all made a commitment to limit the global warming to 1.5 degrees. But this is only doable, if we achieve the global net zero emissions by 2050. In this context, did you know that homes will be the single largest consumer of electricity and one of the single biggest contributors of carbon dioxide emissions up to 30%? So (indistinct) all have a big part to play in our, in the home sector to reach these targets. Now let me explain why homes must evolve and why smart homes need to take a new meaning in the future.
At Schneider, we believe our homes are facing four main challenges. Sustainability, resilience, efficiency, and personalization. The first challenge is to prepare homes for becoming more sustainable in order to reduce their climate impact which is what we just talked about. The second challenge, is resilience. It has two main components, Safety and uninterrupted power availability.
Electrical fires alone have been costing homeowners 3.6 billion euros every year. And that's just in Europe and the US, while extreme weather effects like the bush fires and storms are increasing in frequency and intensity causing more power disruptions around the globe. The third challenge, efficiency is a direct consequence of the increase in electricity consumption. As we spend more time at home, we use more electricity. Take my example. Right here in Singapore as I've started working from home, my electricity bill has gone up by about 40% every month.
Electrification is also a primary trigger. Heating, cooking, electric vehicles, they're all culprits here. In UK, there is a commitment to switch from gas to electrical heating by 2025 for all new built homes.
Likewise, for many other countries. Thankfully there are huge opportunities for efficiency to limit this increase. Consumers are ready to take advantage of it. And to the fourth challenge, as we spend more time at home not just living, but playing, working and studying, we need additional personalized modular spaces in our homes to do all these different things. At Schneider, we fully recognize these four challenges.
And we are excited to share our solutions and innovations to address them. And now comes the important part. Why do we connect all these challenges to smart homes here at CES? The answer is simple. Electricity is the lifeline of our homes.
It connects everything together. Electric powers digital and digital enables more electric. This helps us to monitor and control every device in the home whether it's connected or non-connected. This interplay between electric and digital is what we address with Wiser, our platform for smart and sustainable homes. Thanks to Wiser, we're able to link the supply side of energy including those multiple sources, like the grid, the solar and the battery backup to the demand side, which is every plug and socket and appliances in your home.
And thanks to Wiser, we're also able to make homes, not just smart but smart and sustainable. I'm now really excited to give the floor to my colleagues who are gonna take you into these details of the four innovations that we are launching here at CES. Anne-Sophie, the floor is yours.
- Thank you, Jai, for the introduction. Hi, I am Sophia Hajjar Vice President of Marketing in Home and Distribution at Schneider Electric. I am going to give you a closer look at the, these four major innovation that Jai mentioned.
Should there be any question do not hesitate to raise them in the Q&A chat. Our expert will answer you. Today, Schneider Electric smart home solution are present in one out of five homes globally.
And we are proud to give homeowners a level of insight that allows them to take control of their homes. Just like how you use a connected watch to monitor your health, our Wiser Solution allows you to measure, quantify and even game-ify your energy efficiency targets. So in the era of connected innovation there's no need to go on an energy diet. To be clear, it's not only about how much energy we consume but whether we are consuming the right kind of energy such as the affordable renewable energy generated on a roof. The first product that we are (indistinct) to present today is the Wiser Energy Center.
We see this as the, as one of the most impactful innovation to hit the market. This is how we will transform our homes into net zero homes. This unique Energy Center is a real groundbreaking innovation.
The Energy Center is available in two versions adjusted to the country's specifications. We revealed the American version at the Schneider Electric press conference here at CES this year. And the IEC world version will be launched in France and Spain in mid 2021.
When we described The Energy Center as unique you may wonder what we are talking about. Let me introduce you another Anne-Sophie. Anne-Sophie Maresco, our project marketing leader who will guide us through this innovation. Welcome, Anne-Sophie. - Hello, hello.
I'm really happy to be with you here at CES today . - So Anne-Sophie, tell us, what makes The Energy Center so unique? - Well, as Jai mentioned the need to control our household energy consumption efficiently has become essential. But on the other hand. we must make sure that we don't exceed consumption limits.
It's also important that we are able to charge electric appliances and store energy while the cost is low. The Energy Center is the answer home owners have been looking for. It puts control back into their hands when and how to generate energy, store and use it within our homes. If electricity is the lifeblood of the home then the Wiser ecosystem is it's heart.
It pumps and manages the electrical power throughout your home, to ensure all vital functions such as home security and connectivity systems are always running as they should. The Energy Center combines the functionalities of energy monitoring and electrical protection with solar inverter into one electrical switchboard. Thanks to AI and machine learning, The Energy Center will intelligently select the most optimal mix of energy sources coming from the solar panel, Genset, battery or regular grid. And it will then distribute that energy in the most optimal way to different loads in the home at the right moment. This is especially important for the most demanding loads such as electric cars, heating or the boiler. - So, that's interesting.
You confirm the Wiser Energy Center is just not a new switchboard. - Indeed. It's a giant leap forward for electrical switchboards. - Now, let's, let's discover it and show us how it's unique.
- Yeah, Sure. Well, you can navigate The Energy Center from top to bottom. So going from the grid where the energy is received to the, to, to the house where the energy is actually consumed. The first row aggregates the different sources of energy in the house combined with the second row, which contains the edge controller. The system allows you to optimize your energy sources. It automatically creates the best energy mix to prevent soaring energy bills.
It will maximize consumption of the energy produced by your solar panels and purchase from the grid when the energy is at its most cost effective. - So what about the third row? - Yes. So the third row allows you to dynamically control the loads in order to manage energy efficiently. But we'll come back to that later. - [Anne-Sophie 1] So now we go to the next two rows. - Yes, that's right.
So the fourth row here leaves some space to integrate the solar inverter directly into the electrical panel. The Wiser Energy Center is fully compatible with any hybrid string inverter. The final row here is the home panel board.
- But it looks like a traditional switchboard. - Yes it does. But The Energy Center comes with an extra layer of safety. And that's so important because remember, 336 billion euros worth of damage are caused by electrical faults every year.
That extra layer of safety protects the panel from over-voltage which could damage the electrical installation and even put all of your home's assets at risk. - Okay. So all in one into one unique panel. - [Anne-Sophie 2] Yes. - That's great. It sounds like a perfect solution and something that will benefit me. Personally, I have an electric car and recently installed solar panels on my roof.
But all the extra devices that have been installed take up so much space. My entire garage wall is literally covered. - Yes, indeed. The Energy Center solution will save people a significant amount of space. This is on top of delivering savings on energy bills, increasing electrical safety and providing countless other benefits.
And this only one solution we offer is half the size of similar products on the market. Now, thinking about installers and home builders this will save them hours on installation time. As I said before, the Wiser Energy Center is fully compatible with any hybrid string inverter based on open standards, cyber secure technology.
It can be installed in less time than a traditional solar installation. - Okay, but going back to your point about traditional installation that's not even the worst part of the experience, right? From the digital aspect, the number of apps you need today is absolutely insane. One for solar production, one for energy storage another for lighting control then another for utility usage monitoring. It never seems to end there's too much complexity and frankly, too much to manage. Who has the time? - Yes, you are absolutely right. In this case The Energy Central consolidates all the apps we've seen before in a one simple digital platform through the Wiser ecosystem.
Thanks Anne-Sophie for taking us through The Wiser Energy Center and showing how this truly is a leapfrog innovation. That was the first of the four innovation we have to show you today. But before sharing the three of our innovation I'd like to come back to the four challenges Jai mentioned at the beginning. Remember sustainability resilience, efficiency, and personalization. Wiser is the solution to make your home more sustainable resilient, efficient, and personal. Each of the four innovation you will see today play specific roles in the Wiser ecosystem.
Let's look at resilience first. Anne-Sophie, can you explain how Wiser makes a homes more resilient? - Yes. Wiser makes homes more resilient by enabling safe connections for all types of power sources, including solar, the battery the generator and grid connections. First, it adds a layer of extractive safety to bring you peace of mind. Second, it ensures power is both reliable and available whenever you need it. - Okay. So, interesting.
How do we apply this extra layer of safety? - Oh, yes. This actually brings us to our second innovation. We are extremely proud to present, Acti9 Active.
It's a part of the Wiser ecosystem and also embedded into the Wiser Energy Center. This device comes with all types of protection against electrical fault. So think again about a smartwatch that tracks your heart rates. Well, Acti9 Active tracks, the health of your home.
It looks at things such as the grounding system for signs of arc fault events and alerts you before any of these events happen. That means you can call your electrician before any harm is done to your home. On top of that, I don't wanna brag but Acti9 Active has just been granted with a CES Honor Innovation Award. - Yeah. That's amazing news. Anne-Sophie you said the second component of resilience is (indistinct) continuity. How does Wiser ensure this? - Yes. Well with the Wiser Energy Center
we can dynamically manage the home's electrical loads. For example, in France, your power cuts off if you consume electricity above the limit. this could happen, if, for example, you are charging your car, using the boiler and cooking on an induction stove at the same time. In this specific scenario, Wiser would slow down the charging speed of the electric car. So you can continue to cook.
Also the Wiser Energy Center enables you to maintain critical power if an outage occurs. It ensures priority areas of the home remained powered. It gives you the flexibility to decide what you want to keep on. The fridge and your internet connection, then perhaps you'd like to disconnect the induction plates or the AC? This level of control is incredible.
You can narrow it down to individual appliances. - That's great. So now let's switch to the fourth challenge, efficiency.
With more people staying at home at the moment, energy efficiency has become a major concern. We've done a survey in five countries and found that nine out of 10 consumer would be willing to invest in smart home product that can make their home more efficient. And as we are switching from gas to electricity something Jai mentioned earlier. our electricity bills at home are increasing by around 40%. Therefore, the need to manage energy in the most optimal way is absolutely crucial.
So please tell me, can the Wiser ecosystem help us save also on our energy bills? - Yes. Wiser also makes your home more efficient. There are several ways we can achieve outstanding energy efficiency with Wiser. For example, one, with the Wiser Energy Center we can maximize solar energy to power our electric cars. Two, we are also launching an efficient multi-room temperature control system. Three, we have the ability to monitor and control the boiler.
- So first, can you explain how the Wiser Energy Center integrate input from the solar panels all the way down to the charging? - Yes. Let me give you an example. Wiser selects the best moment to boost the electric car's charge? It takes advantage of the solar panels so we can charge at no additional cost. When the solar panels are not producing energy, it pauses the charge and then starts again when the electricity is available at the cheapest tariff.
This is really vital. You know, must governments around the world are encouraging residents to switch to electric cars, using different methods. For example, offering compensation. These programs work. In Europe alone, between July and September last year registrations of electric cars tripled reaching close to 10% of market share.
Additionally, Wiser integrates the energy supply together based on your demand. So that you can choose the cheapest tariff at any given moment. This becomes really handy when dealing with some of those devices we have at home that use a lot of electricity. - Yeah. Speaking of that, another energy intensive part of the home is the heating. So the third innovation we are sharing with you today is an efficient operator control system.
This also act as part of the Wiser ecosystem. - Yes, that's right. With the launch of the Wiser under floor heating connection strip, the Wiser system has expanded to become a mixed heating smart control solution. Through the app, homeowners can control under-floor heating and radiators simply and quickly.
It lets them cool and heat the floor when required. One of our studies in the UK indicated that in an all electric home, Wiser helped save up to 50% energy usage without compromising on comfort. - You mean 50%? - Yes. 50%.
And the way to achieve this is to adjust temperatures differently in each room. It distinguishes the Wiser system from the others in the markets, which basically keep the entire home at the same temperature level. And then when you leave home, Wiser knows instantly and triggers the away mode. Let's look at another example. Your kids are outside playing in the garden and the window has been left open.
Usually in this case, the thermostat would boost the heating in order to maintain the right temperature level. But the cold is going to win this battle every time while that energy being used to try to heat the room is being wasted. Wiser detects when the window is open. And it will pause the heating and wait for the window to be closed to gain.
This allows us to use our heating systems much more efficiently and also save us a lot of energy in the process. - Okay. So we've mentioned how (indistinct) charging and operator control can make homes more efficient.
Let's dive into the fourth topic, which was water boilers Anne-Sophie, can you provide specific examples? - Yes, sure. The water boiler is another big consumer of electricity at home. It accounts for up to 20% of the total household electricity consumption in France.
Without any AI, water boilers heat up water when it's not hot anymore. However, thanks to AI and machine learning. the Wiser Energy Center orders the boiler to heat up water at the right time. Here's an example, it's a sunny summer afternoon and there is no particular need for electricity.
Your electric car is fully charged and the heat is off. The Wiser Energy Center would instruct that the electricity generated by the solar panel starts heating up the water. As with the other examples we've looked at today the best thing is that you don't have to worry. The Wiser Energy Center will always make the best choice depending on different factors, such as the current weather, the weather forecast and the electricity tariff. All of this makes Wiser very important for efficiency.
- That's real efficiency. Now let's see how Wiser makes home more personal. It adapt to your needs, comfort preferences, and habits so that it can support you in every moment of your life. Let's illustrate this with some examples. Anne-Sophie? - Sure. I'm all for examples.
Wiser creates the right moments for her today. Coming back home, after a long day of work? Your home gives you the perfect welcome. It switches on warm lights, sets the right temperature and opens the shutters which had been closed while you were out. You can simply set all the, of these moments in the app. Or if you prefer, you can use the free locate switch. Free locate means you can place the switch wherever you like.
It's the same when you leave home. Wiser sets your home to away mode so that you don't have to worry about adjusting your heating. Wiser helps reduce energy consumption automatically.
You don't have to think about the lights. They will all be turned off, including the ones in your kids' rooms, which they may forget to switch off sometimes. You don't have to worry about the shutters or blinds either.
They will be closed as soon as you leave. Now, you have a secured home, one that wastes zero energy while you're away and constantly adapts to your life habits - And considering life habits. (indistinct) With home office becoming a standard practice I have been spending more time at home, recently. Yes. So have I.
And as we are spending more time at home, we need more modular spaces. Well, Anne-Sophie let me guess, your living room has become... - [Anne-Sophie 1] A cinema? - Yes.
Well, your bedroom is now a? - [Anne-Sophie 1] A Classroom - A classroom. And the kitchen table? - An office desktop. - An office desktop.
So let me introduce you to the Unica System + . Just clip the Unica System + onto your table to turn it into a working desk with sockets and USB plug. Then when it's time for dinner, just unclip it and your kitchen table is back and it's not just useful.
You know, Unica System + looks and feels good too. In fact, it's an iF design award 2020 winner in the office and industry category. We partner with Danish company, Kvadrat, leader in textile design and innovation to wrap our devices with modern fabrics.
- Yeah. It's really nice. I love it Last but not least. And probably the most important challenge right now is sustainability. Anne-Sophie can also Wiser makes ORM more sustainable? - Yes. So with the Wiser Energy Center
we've already known that Wiser gives you unprecedented control over energy storage and usage . Control means savings which leads to greater sustainability. Then Wiser helps you predict the energy production from the solar panels and also helps you monitor it.
What's more, it tells you how you can increase the mix of renewables in your total consumption. This means you can maximize the use of solar panels you have installed at home which is particularly relevant to your electric car. And in the near future, Wiser will also let you know your carbon footprint translating your habits into electricity consumption and your household CO2 emissions.
- Okay. That's nice. But tell me, since I have already solar panels installed in my house, can I also benefit from all these innovations? - Yes. That's good question. It's also possible when you renovate your existing panel thanks to the (indistinct) innovation today, PowerTag which is probably the smallest wireless energy sensor in the world. It's a plug and play solution that we put on top of the breakers in the electrical panel. This tiny device allows you to monitor and control energy at home, including solar.
So whether you build or renovate a house Wiser helps you walk the talk off your sustainability values. - Thank you so much, Anne-Sophie for bringing all this expansion about the innovation today. - Thank you. You're welcome. - The question are being answered as we speak, on the chats. And you still have a couple of minutes to raise them and we make sure all of them are answered.
Now, Jai, back to you - Thank you. Anne-Sophie and Anne-Sophie. For unveiling our four latest innovations, that form part of the Wiser ecosystem, the Wiser Energy Center, the Acti9 Active the room-by-room temperature control system and the Power Tag.
As I mentioned at the start, our approach to homes of the future is about making them smart and sustainable. With our Wiser ecosystem, consumers will not only get the benefits and functionalities of a traditional smart home but also a comprehensive energy management system that interconnects the electricity sources and the devices. This is how we will help consumers address the four challenges that their homes are gonna face.
Sustainability, resilience, efficiency, and personalization. We all have a critical role to play in this journey towards a sustainable world. And it starts right here in our homes. With Wiser, Schneider empowers you to transform your homes to be smart and sustainable. I now invite you to visit our virtual booth here at CES 2021.
Join our other Spotlights and breakout sessions that will make you virtually touch and experience all our products. Thank you for your time. And I wish you a great CES. (soft music)
2021-02-06 12:35
