The Evolution of the Energy Internet and the Emergence of the Internet of Things

August 24, 2011

In the last blog post, we mentioned the Internet of Things—a vast universe of connected devices that will generate big interest, big value and big data.

The concept of the Internet of Things is not new. Ten years ago, MIT and DARPA funded research on self-organizing wireless sensor networks that could be used in battlefields. This nascent idea gave rise to a host of start-ups looking to leverage this research to provide monitoring services in areas like security, building systems and energy.

During that time I was at Ember, one of the companies spawned from this groundbreaking research. While there, I spent a lot of time with people like Rob Poor and Andy Wheeler thinking about the multitude of directions that wireless sensor networking could go.

Back then, we thought about the potential of this technology in terms of the intersection of Moore’s law (which states that the number of transistors on a chip roughly doubles every two years. This law has proven true for the past 50 years) and Metcalfe’s law (which states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system—basically, what we call the network effect). In other words, we have the good fortune to live during a time in which smaller and smaller silicon chips are being put in all types of things while at the same time we have the ability to network all of these things—even very, very small things, like light switches, thermostats, outlets and the list goes on and on. Imagine what these things could tell us if they could communicate and connect. We were intrigued by the possibilities. So this is where we began to focus our work—on the Internet of Things.

I soon came across and joined Tendril, which was founded in 2004 by Tim Enwall. He had identified the need for a common platform to provide a communications, management and integration layer in order to unlock the true value from the millions of “things that cannot speak.” We knew there were lots of uses for the platform but we had to be deliberate about where such a platform would best take root—after several starts, it became clear that transformation in the electric grid was fertile ground for our cloud platform.

Today, a decade after the MIT and DARPA research, as a result of Tendril’s efforts in the energy space, we’re starting to see the realization of all this work. The emergence of an intelligent network that connects small things is rapidly taking shape in the energy market and it looks like it’s starting to seep into adjacent markets, like home automation and home healthcare, to name just a few.

Why has this common platform been missing and why has it taken the better part of seven years for us to build it?

Because building it is a difficult undertaking. It requires integration with dozens (…today, hundreds tomorrow) of communications protocols, layers mediums and standards like 3G, Wi-Fi, IP, and ZigBee, but also mesh networks and meter protocols from SilverSpring, Itron, Landis + Gyr and others. It requires integration with a new wave of smart-enabled devices soon to hit the market, like EVs, renewable energy systems, refrigerators, dishwashers, water heaters and dryers, and products already here like smart thermostats and power strips. And let’s face it, these devices live in homes, businesses, vehicles and are in the hands of users across all seven continents. Keep in mind, no one (ourselves included) can presume to know the scale and scope of these applications, and tomorrow’s Internet of Things platform must accommodate this evolution and innovation.

But if building this platform were easy, it would have been done already. Not only is building the platform tough, you need time, money, credibility and commitment to get there. As a result, we have been a major force behind the Energy Internet as a foray into this market opportunity, helping utilities better connect from the meter to the home in order to improve demand response and load balancing, while complying with energy efficiency mandates. Along the way, we’ve used our platform to build the Tendril Energize suite of applications as well as connect a number of third party smart devices. What began as proofs of concept now deliver tremendous value to utilities, energy product providers and consumers.

We’ve also developed strategic partnerships with major meter manufacturers, smart thermostat manufacturers, major appliance manufacturers (including Whirlpool), a leader in home automation (Vivint—announced earlier this month) and are running down the aisle with partners in other categories including EVs, solar and other providers of ‘Things.’ Our vision is a universe of Tendril Connect partners—both energy centric and non-energy centric that are connecting to, building on or integrating with the Tendril Connect platform.

Today, we have reached a huge milestone in the growth of our platform (and our journey to realize the Internet of Things): the announcement that we are opening our API’s to allow app developers to build on our platform. We firmly believe that the true test of our platform is to put it in the hands of developers who can give birth to new, innovative applications for the energy industry as well as other adjacent markets.

The funny thing about giving developers access to your platform is that they use their imagination to expand the scope and reach of the platform far faster and wider than we could have done on our own. I’m excited to see what new applications spring from the creative minds of developers. In fact, we’re sponsoring the Cleanweb Hackathon in early September, and we can’t wait to see how in just 24 hours, our APIs will be used to build apps on a platform that took us seven years to build.

So watch here in the coming weeks as we detail more applications, products, partnerships and exciting new programs designed to solidify Tendril as the cloud platform for the Energy Internet and highlight our commitment to accelerating innovation.

Finally, our apologies for the length of this post. It too was seven years in the making.

Adrian Tuck, CEO