Saturday, July 7, 2012

No. 556: HEMS grows widespread to promote energy saving efforts in households (July 7, 2012)

Business trend:
Consumer electronics makers and housing companies alike are planning to introduce products supporting the house energy management system (HEMS) in succession. According to the government, industrial energy consumption decreased 12% between 1990 and 2009, but household energy consumption increased 23% in the same period largely due to growing size of home electronics including TV set. Toshiba Lighting and Technology launched HEMS-supporting control equipment for air-conditioners and lighting fixtures. As the government absorbs 100,000 yen for the purchase of this equipment, the amount consumer needs to pay is around 50,000 yen. The Toshiba group is planning to commercialize the HEMS-supporting photovoltaic generation system and storage battery in the near future.

Misawa Homes will put HEMS housing that incorporates its self-developed HEMS-supporting control equipment on the market soon. Mitsui Fudosan Residential will introduce the HEMS to the apartment complex it is developing in Tokyo. Both companies employ the ECHONET that is the communication standard recommended by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Because this standard allows for integrated control of home electronics regardless of their makers, the market will supposedly start to grow rapidly after coming October. The spread of the HEMS will facilitate the growth of the market related to smart house. According to a survey company, the smart house-related market will grow about three times over the level in 2011 to 3,500 billion yen in 2020.


Flowchart of the home energy management system (HEMS)
 

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