New ZigBee Smart Energy Version 1.1 Now Available

SAN RAMON, Calif., July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZigBee® Alliance, a global ecosystem of organizations creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, residential, commercial and consumer applications, today announced that an update to ZigBee Smart Energy™ version 1, the first and only widely available Advanced Metering Infrastructure standard, is now available for product development and public download.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20091005/SF86596LOGO)

ZigBee Smart Energy is the industry leading standard helping to create greener homes by giving consumers the information and automation they need to easily reduce their energy consumption and save money. ZigBee Smart Energy version 1.1 adds several important features including dynamic pricing enhancements, tunneling of other protocols, prepayment features, over-the-air updates and backwards compatibility with certified ZigBee Smart Energy products version 1.0. These features not only make it easier for consumers to use, but also make it ideal for utilities and energy service providers to deploy and operate. Plus, the over-the-air update feature enables easy upgrades to existing installations.

Pike Research projects a $26.1 billion global market for smart energy devices and appliances by 2019, and anticipates that ZigBee will lead in wireless connections to smart appliances. Additionally, ON World estimates that ZigBee Smart Energy will account for half of global revenues for home energy management equipment and services, aggressively projected at $3.3 billion by 2014, among both wired and wireless systems.

"The new features of ZigBee Smart Energy reflect real-world Smart Grid experience gained from the millions of implementations of ZigBee Smart Energy in the market today," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "ZigBee Smart Energy products that have been ZigBee Certified make it easy for utilities and governments to deploy smart home solutions that are secure, easy-to-install, interoperable and most importantly, consumer friendly."

Utilities and consumers can select from a growing list of interoperable ZigBee Smart Energy Certified products ranging from thermostats to meters. The new ZigBee Smart Energy 1.1 products below have been independently verified to be fully interoperable and have earned the right to be branded with the ZigBee Certified logo and the ZigBee Smart Energy icon on product packaging and advertisements. These marks are designed to clearly communicate interoperability. For a full list of features and product photos, or to download this standard, please visit www.ZigBee.org/SmartEnergy.

• Alektrona Corporation: Z-Aperture Energy Management Hub ZA07-200 is an open energy management hub allowing energy solution providers to build best of breed energy management systems that best meets their customers' needs and budget.
• Cooper Power Systems: UtilityPRO is a Honeywell touchscreen programmable thermostat designed for utility-sponsored demand response programs and is equipped with a Cooper demand response module.
• Digi International: ConnectPort X2 ESP is an energy services portal enabling energy service providers to deploy HAN devices controlled over broadband or cellular connection, allowing Smart Grid services to be deployed in areas not covered by Smart Metering networks.
• Ember Corporation: EM35x Development Kit can be used for EM351 and EM357 system-on-chips (SoC) or Network Co-Processor based development.
• Elster Solutions: REX2 / gREX Meter is an advanced meter supporting emerging needs of smart grid initiatives, such as enhanced memory, greater security and remote upgradeability.
• MMB Research: RapidSE is a drop-in platform that fully automates ZigBee Smart Energy and is easily adapted to OEMs' existing protocols, allowing device manufacturers to leapfrog application development and rapidly deliver products to multiple markets. 

ZigBee Smart Energy – The Standard for Smart Metering and Energy Management in Home Area Networks

ZigBee Smart Energy enables energy service providers and utilities to wirelessly communicate with and manage common household devices such as smart thermostats, in-home displays and appliances. It improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers the means to manage their energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time information. Consumers have the ability to choose from more than 100 ZigBee Certified products using ZigBee Smart Energy to save money and energy. It also helps utilities and energy providers implement new advanced metering and demand response programs to drive greater energy management and efficiency, while responding to changing government requirements. For more information and a list of ZigBee Certified products, visit: www.ZigBee.org/SmartEnergy.

ZigBee: Control your world

ZigBee offers green and global wireless standards connecting the widest range of devices to work together intelligently and help you control your world. The ZigBee Alliance is an open, non-profit association of approximately 400 organizations driving development of innovative, reliable and easy-to-use ZigBee standards. The Alliance promotes worldwide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit: www.ZigBee.org.

SOURCE ZigBee Alliance