When thinking about energy conservation and alternative energy, it is sometimes a good idea to take stock of where we are today with respect to global energy use. A recent report by British Petroleum (BPC) gives an detailed overview of the world’s increasing energy consumption, broken down by country and major geographic region. In 2010, the worldwide energy consumption was reported to be at the level of an equivalent use of 12 billion metric tons of oil. Figure 1 illustrates how this energy use was divided among major geographic regions and countries throughout the world.

Despite the development of a number of smart technologies for use in residential environments, consumers have been slower than anticipated in purchasing and installing these devices in their homes. A number of studies have looked at this issue, and cited reasons for this hesitancy.

“I believe that PV manufacturing is going to go in two directions in the future,” says Teodosio del Caño. “One way is towards very cheap and very efficient systems. Here China is going to control the market – they already do. All other market players should go into building-integrated photovoltaics if they hope to survive.”

“In the jurisdiction of TEPCo, the Tokyo region electricity company, electricity consumption has reduced by more than 15% - approaching 20%. That is a huge amount,” according to Professor Kazuhiro Ueta an economist in charge of both Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Economics and its Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies.

A complete retrofit of an existing home to incorporate smart technologies for energy management and home automation can sometimes be overwhelming to homeowners, both in terms of cost and complexity. Because the energy and time savings from utilizing such systems can be significant, it is worth looking at lower cost solutions.

A solar lighting system and cellphone charger that costs users about half as much as kerosene fuel has been successfully trialled in Kenya and will soon be rolled out in other African countries and India.

Devices that continue to use power when they are turned off but not unplugged are known as “vampire” or “phantom” devices. A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the US looked at the typical energy used by a number of devices when they are plugged in but turned off. The worst offenders were TV set top boxes, including digital cable boxes and satellite boxes, with and without a DVR.

Thailand has connected over 850 MW of very small renewable energy power plants (less than 10 MW capacity) to the grid in less than five years. There was just 16 MW in late 2005. Developers have signed further power purchase agreements with Thai electricity utilities for another 4 GW of very small power production.

Time-based or dynamic pricing is a form of pricing where consumers are charged different rates for a service depending on the time of day, month, or even season. In some cases, customers can be given price information in real time. In the case of the smart grid, utilities can monitor the load on the grid as well as the cost of generation of electricity and can transmit this information to customers. This can lead to a more stable and efficient grid.