From Meters to Washing Machines, ‘Smart’ Grid Components May Make Investors $$ (Part 2 of 2)
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Listen to Bill Vogel, CEO of privately-held Trilliant Inc., a key player in the coming era of electricity-consuming devices able to communicate with one another and with power suppliers, and you realize that the energy efficiency revolution he is describing could lead to small fortunes being made by investors in companies that will make not just super-smart meters but also intelligent appliances like washing machines and dishwashers.
As Vogel explains it, every appliance and device will have an embedded chip that will communicate over a wireless mesh network with a “smart” meter in a home and office. In turn, that meter will interface with power providers miles away. It will all add up to a far more reliable electricity grid in which blackouts may become a thing of the past, and where far less electricity needs to be generated, resulting in far lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
In Part 1. Vogel named several companies he thinks will do well making the chips that will go into all of the smart meters and intelligent appliances. Today in Part 2 he gives us names of companies he expects will be winners in the meter and appliance categories.
Among meter manufacturers, Vogel sees several companies prospering, among them: Echelon Corp., privately-held Elster Group, and, of course, General Electric, whose name, as EnergyTechStocks.com readers know, seems to pop up every time advanced energy technology is described.
Echelon is a name already familier to many investors given its leading position in the smart meter market. According to Echelon’s CEO, the smart grid could turn out to be “one of the greatest achievements of the 21st century.” (For more see The Home-Improvers: 5 That Could Do Well Improving Home Energy Efficiency — #1 Echelon)
Luxembourg-based Elster Group is the smart meter provider for a big smart-metering trial being conducted in the Canadian province of Ontario. The company describes itself as “the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of highly accurate, highly reliable integrated metering and utilization solutions.”
Two appliance manufacturers that Vogel thinks will do well are Whirlpool Corp. and Samsung Electronics. For Whirlpool, the smart grid could become a lifeline that pulls the company through the continuing housing downturn in the U.S. Vogel sees Whirlpool possibly selling a lot of new home appliances as buying “smart” becomes a consumer trend. “Whirlpool is definitely doing things,” Vogel said, indicating that Trilliant has been talking with Whirlpool.
That Vogel singled out Samsung could prove to be valuable intelligence for investors, given the many consumer electronics markets Samsung competes in, including computers, printers, MP3 players and digital set top boxes. Whichever company establishes itself as the “smart” leader in the area of home entertainment could just see a surge in sales.
