GridPoint
GridPoint was included in the Cleantech Group's 2009 list of Top 100 Clean Tech Companies
GridPoint Inc. is a clean technology company that began doing business in 2003. The company has headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Additional offices have locations in:
- Austin, Texas
- Roanoke, Virginia
- Seattle, Washington
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The company develops innovative smart grid platforms for efficiently balancing energy supply with energy demand. Their technology protects against power outages, power surges and helps with public education in the field of renewable energy. GridPoint is the 2008 recipient of Technology Pioneer Award resulting from World Economic Forum's choice.
Products and Services
GridPoint leads the way in smart energy solutions by supplying enterprises, agencies and utility providers with the knowledge and tools to implement and maintain their sustainable energy procedures. These procedures improve efficiency even as they maximize the energy savings. This company has a thorough collection of software, hardware and assistance offering control to the end consumer over their energy consumption.
Programs within the GridPoint system have names descriptive of their performance capabilities leading to energy efficiency. Some of the programs include:
- Enterprise Energy Efficiency
- Customer Engagement Platform
- Load and Storage Management
- Energy Management
- Solar Energy Systems
Corporate Consumers
One government agency using a GridPoint solution for energy savings is the United States Postal Service. The technology allows the USPS to manage energy consumption without a physical presence at each site. This is the largest government contract account that GridPoint has to date.
However, it is not the only large contract for the company. Wendy's restaurant chain has one franchisee that made the decision to install a GridPoint system in his Central Florida chain of eateries. The intent was to stabilize energy costs and try to lower them, if possible. He was able to realize considerable savings after implementing the GridPoint solution.
GridPoint: The Next Frontier
The GridPoint solutions have more than 10,000 solar energy systems with related energy management controls in place across the United States and Canada as well as places in Europe. Their clientele of enterprises, government agencies or departments report significant energy savings leading to general operational budget savings.
The successes in these two large sectors allow GridPoint to provide smaller models of their energy conservation program to residential customers in addition to the commercial and industrial sectors. One such program is the Solar Energy System, which is able to maximize the return on investment for the business sector and should perform as well for the residential market.
GridPoint Hardware/Software Components
Their hardware components are intelligent, real-time monitoring and control devices allow measurement and management at the energy end users. A combination of meters, sensors, controllers and thermostats can assume a configuration unique to each situation with a program of schedules and secure data for future reference. The hardware comingles traditional equipment with their easily scalable energy program management.
GridPoint has intuitive and web-based platform software providing details of energy operations and can also provide identification of certain savings through use of reports and alarms. The software quickly evaluates end user performance and helps determine energy strategy going forward. Benefits resulting from this software:
- Critical energy information comes into a central location from sites and systems on locations remote from central monitoring
- The software can identify, diagnose and fix equipment issues before energy savings are lost or costly repairs drain savings
- Determine and analyze energy efficient projects
Services for Consumers
Energy management is important to the outcome of the GridPoint system operation. To ensure proper operation certain services are critical to customer service:
- Technical support to resolve problems with software and hardware as well as foreign equipment
- Control services ensure system compliance with compliance policies and environmental controls
- Energy advisory service proactively tracks, manages and analyses critical operational data
- Identify opportunities to score savings by managing alarms, investigating lack of performance at certain sites and producing accurate energy billing
Mission Goals and Achievements
The home energy management system gives residential consumers control over the use and savings by providing tools to increase efficiency and integrating solar with electric technology. Commercial and industrial customers have the energy management team working to bring optimal energy performance to the end user.
Today's utility companies need load management programs to monitor and fulfill energy compliance standards and policies. The GridPoint program and system does this and more. GridPoint's Energy Management flagship system is receiving enhancements that include specific industry software algorithms for convenience stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and retail establishments.
The upgrades reflect best practices from industry spokespeople at 9500 GridPoint sites across North America and the United Kingdom. If GridPoint can't do it, it just can't be done. So far, GridPoint can do it by bringing renewable energy to the environment one site at the time and managing the integration of traditional energy systems with sustainable management systems with remote locations.
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