Here Comes The Future

Jonathan Hart, SVP Solution & Segment Marketing, Corporate Marketing, Schneider Electric, sat down with Samantha Keck at the WFES and shared the latest on the company’s business plans and technology initiatives.

It’s alive!

The confidence radiating from Jonathan Hart was unmistakable. Perhaps it had something to do with the most recent strategic partnership signed with Masdar, just days before the WFES. “The strategic agreement that has been signed is important for both parties, because it fits very closely with both of our strategies,” said Hart. “Masdar’s desire to build a city that is neutral and free of emissions means that they will also need the technology and the approach that enables them to do that.” Hart added that the agreement with Masdar would cover several areas including several ongoing and renewable energy projects, encompassing solar power and home automation initiatives.

The project between Schneider Electric and the Masdar Institute of Technology was particularly exciting for Hart. The mutual agreement outlined the delivery of a ‘living laboratory’ Innovation Center at Masdar City that would incorporate both a Research and Development Facility and a Technical Centre of Excellence. According to Schneider Electric, this facility would focus on long-term sustainable technology research in Green Buildings (Energy efficiency initiatives), Smart Grids (City-wide management system), Water (District Cooling, Treatment Plants) and ICT (Data Centers, Smart Buildings). Hart further added: “We are working together to build an environment, a real life lab that allows to develop our technology not only in terms of energy efficiency but also in terms of R&D for EcoStruxure™ system design and system capability.

“A lot of the details for that (living laboratory) are still being finalised as we speak,” Hart said. “As a company, it allows us to interact at different levels – whether it is from working within the home environment, the control of automation of the homes, right through to the building, the facilities, and green IT.”Hart added that the lab would facilitate further developing renewable energy in terms of the connection of solar power, wind power to the grid. He further added: “The platform allows us to start developing in many different areas and not just in the theory. It’s a living laboratory, so it means practice as well, in how that develops and how that works.”

EcoStruxure™ – intuitive energy efficiency

Schneider Electric announced the debut of its EcoStruxure solution architecture at the WFES. According to Aaron Davis, Chief Marketing Officer, Schneider Electric, EcoStruxure™ provides users with clear and comprehensive reference architectures across key environments and applications. This would lead to a reduction in inefficiencies and increase a company’s ability to make invisible energy waste “both visible and actionable”.

Hart was equally enthusiastic about EcoStruxure: “The biggest challenge, for us at Schneider Electric is – how do we get people to really maximise and get the most out of their energy? As a company, we believe that people should be able to gain 30% in terms of energy efficiency. But you are only going to be able to do that if you look at the complete scope of how you use the electricity and act accordingly to that.” Hart added that EcoStruxure enabled users to bring those different domains into one view and achieve the energy efficiencies.

Hart continued: “In many places, 10-15% of the cost is in energy. But no one actually has a system or software to help them manage that energy. EcoStruxure is not only the software but also the technology, hardware and systems behind that.” According to Hart, EcoStruxure is a managed system which controlled the use of energy from how to process machine management into the building control and environment and out to the security and security management. Hart added, “So being in one environment, you are able to look at the complete consumption of all your energy, optimise it, control it, and use that energy to its maximum potential.” Hart pointed out the potential EcoStruxure™ would hold for fostering energy saving among the future population. “To begin with we know that bad systems lead to inefficiency. EcoStruxure is not only a good system, it is an intelligent system.” According to Hart, the inherent intelligence within EcoStruxure will be able to “study” and “integrate” human living habits and start to optimise energy consumption within the location. Hart hastened to add that the optimisation would occur within set parameters.

But as with all things modern in this world, will EcoStruxure lead to even lazier human habits? Hart admitted this was a challenge. “Energy efficiency can be achieved in two ways, either you do it yourself or something else does it dose you,” said Hart.

“We give people both options but the most important thing is to understand the rationale behind the action as well as the technology.” Hart added, “For people who can afford to invest in technology, they will always do so in order to have more time for other things.”

The business of helping people

According to some studies, there are some 1.6 billion people who do not have access to electricity on this planet.

Hart explained that Schneider Electric was always looking for ways to provide the 1.6 billion people with electricity in a way that is green, environmentally friendly, safe, reliable and efficient. He elaborated: “One product that we will be introducing later in the week is a new lighting system. It is made of either 49 or 99 LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), they have the light intensity similar to a 150 watt light bulb, but using only 4.5 watts of electricity. This is the light bulb that can be powered directly from the mains, battery or solar power, depending upon the connection.” Hart went on to explain that this product was developed within Schneider Electric and targeted a particular group in India.

Hart further added: “In terms of needs, giving people light accords them huge benefits. This effectively translates to more time as the same group of people would no longer need to go search for kerosene, or wood fuel to produce light.”

Hart was quick to point out Schneider Electric’s efforts at community projects through the Schneider Electric Foundation. “We set up and invested a solar micro grid in a village in Madagascar,” said Hart. “The grid allowed them three times as much generation capacity as they currently consume.

This opened up potential for them to develop, new opportunities, it also created 12 jobs for the people in the village. The jobs included maintaining and managing the grid, as well as educating the whole village on how to use that system.” In addition to setting up infrastructure, the Schneider Electric Foundation is especially keen to promote education and training within the Third World. Hart highlighted Schneider Electric’s training programme in India which trains electricians. “If you put untrained people to work on electric systems, the system becomes unsafe, unreliable and potentially lethal,” said Hart. “The preference is then to train such people, and give them a whole new career and life opportunity. In India, we have people who started off as a messenger and who are now trained electricians.” According to Hart, the Schneider Electric Foundation training programme is operating in many countries.

In for the long haul

Reiterating the importance of WFES to the future of renewable energy production, Hart said: “The important thing for us in WFES is the target audience. These are the people whom we will have to depend on for a change in the way the rest of the world behaves.” Hart elaborated: “What we are talking about here are the ministers, government officials, and senior executives. Do they know how much they are spending on electricity? How much do they think they should be spending? What can they do to make a difference? These are some of the issues that we are highlighting to them. After understanding these issues, they will be able to monitor, measure and understand what the consumption is, and then be able to take some action.” Hart was candid about Schneider Electric’s future challenges: “We will always be dealing with how to make the most of our energy; we aim to do more using less from the planet, which essentially mean optimising energy in what we do. Schneider Electric has a strong base in the Gulf region. We, as a company, grow with the economic growth of the region, and we invest where there are opportunities. We will continue to be a key player in the region.”