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Japan Moves to Set Worldwide Standard for Residential Energy Storage

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Photo of Joe Piccirilli of Rosewater Energy Group
Joe Piccirilli, Rosewater Energy Group

At last month’s CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis, we learned about – and reported on – a new venture by industry stalwart Joe Piccirilli to sell a residential energy storage hub under the Rosewater Energy Group brand. Their hub uses rechargeable batteries to store energy from the power grid, or from renewable sources (i.e. solar panels, wind turbines), or even from a back-up generator to condition the energy and power your home.

Now news comes out of Asia that Japanese industry, in conjunction with the Japanese government, is preparing a proposal for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to set international standards for the fledgling residential storage industry.

Why is Japan focusing on residential energy storage? Read below to see why… [Read more…] about Japan Moves to Set Worldwide Standard for Residential Energy Storage

NEC & Partners Launch Program to Drive Adoption of Residential Energy Storage

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Photo of NEC's residential storage unit.
NEC’s residential storage unit

It seems that a great green wave is sweeping over Japan as the government and several businesses partner to drive adoption of, and set standards for, the residential energy storage (RES) system business. In a separate post, we reported on a story out of Japan of an effort by Toshiba, Hitachi, and the Japanese government to persuade the IEC, an international standards setting commission, to set an international standard for RES systems based on their proposal.

And on the same day that this was reported, separately the NEC Corp. announced that they have partnered with Orix Corp. to roll-out a national program (in the domestic Japan market) to lease NEC residential energy storage systems to consumers. Although these systems are not new, they have struggled to grow their share of the market – largely because the systems tend to be expensive.

But that’s all about to change… [Read more…] about NEC & Partners Launch Program to Drive Adoption of Residential Energy Storage

3vNet Hires Training Manager and Training Company

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3vNet LogoIn a rash of fast-paced announcements, it is clear that 3vNet continues to push forward with their rapid business ramp-up. Newly independent from former parent, Russound, the company has moved quickly to establish their own identity with an all-new website and several new executives joining the organization. On Monday, we learned that 3vNet has hired Timothy Dunigan as Manager, Training and Education.

But wait, there’s more… [Read more…] about 3vNet Hires Training Manager and Training Company

Former Harmonious Head of CEDIA Delivers Disruption – Launching ube Today

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BREAKING NEWS – ube Launches Today at DEMO

For several years Utz Baldwin worked to further the cause of the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA), first as a member and – from 2008-2011 – as CEO. As the head of the CEDIA, Baldwin worked hard to ensure that the organization was aware of, and responsive to, the needs of its members and other associated stakeholders. However, ousted from the organization in 2011 under circumstances that were never fully made public, Baldwin seemed to disappear from view…until now.

Now, Baldwin is back…and his new company, with the happy-go-lucky name ube (pronounced yoo-bee)…is launching what they promise will be market-changing “disruptive technology”… [Read more…] about Former Harmonious Head of CEDIA Delivers Disruption – Launching ube Today

Sharp, Struggling to Survive, Provides Banks with a New Plan; Ratchets Up Painful Cuts

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Photo of Sharp booth at CESSharp Corp., once a high flying superstar of Japanese manufacturing might, finds itself engaged in a multi-front battle for survival as it seeks to replenish its depleted capital reserves. Recently, the company had announced that it was negotiating a partnership deal that included the sale of factories and a capital investment from Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. But these talks stalled when Sharp’s share price dropped to a value less than half the agreed-upon level.

Now, in a series of announcements, the company has submitted a new plan seeking the support of its banks by “upping the ante” in its restructuring plans, more than doubling staff cuts, selling off company assets, and offering several Sharp-owned properties as collateral – including its headquarters facility.

Sharp’s new plan cuts deeper and will be more painful…but is it enough?… [Read more…] about Sharp, Struggling to Survive, Provides Banks with a New Plan; Ratchets Up Painful Cuts

Batteries Big Enough to Run Your Whole House from Rosewater Energy Group

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Photo of Joe Piccirilli of Rosewater Energy Group
Joe Piccirilli, Rosewater Energy Group

At this month’s CEDIA Expo, no sooner had I finished an interview on the show floor when I saw what looked like two huge caskets standing on end and side-by-side. That’s a little dramatic, they didn’t really look like caskets, just two huge rectangular racks standing about eight-feet up in the air. Curiosity drew me to Rosewater Energy Group’s booth where I discovered an old friend: Joe Piccirilli (formerly of AVAD and Sound Advice).

Those monstrous boxes (actually a little over 7-feet tall, the display base they were shown on made them look taller) really contain a lot of technology and take power conditioning to a whole new level.

See why Rosewater’s “Storage Hub” was even more impressive than it looked… [Read more…] about Batteries Big Enough to Run Your Whole House from Rosewater Energy Group

AudioXperts Korners the Market

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Photo of AudioXperts President Eli Harary Showing KornersThe recent CEDIA Expo was, as usual, dominated by hundreds of companies engaged in a seemingly endless and often mindless rash of line extensions – effectively burying us in a sea of products of uninspiring incrementalism. This year, however, thanks to the diligent effort of many of strata-GEE.com’s and ALERT’s  readers and followers that we saw at the show – we were often pointed us in direction of some hidden gems. Thanks to you, we were successful in uncovering wisps of innovation from a few new or reincarnated companies.

One such interesting start-up, whose launch we recently reported on here, with a follow-up story here, is AudioXperts. At Expo, AudioXperts showed us an interesting new product concept they call Korners.

And Korners may just represent the first successful attempt to bring peace in our industry’s biggest and bloodiest war… [Read more…] about AudioXperts Korners the Market

NuLEDs Gets a New Spark…Or Should We Say, A New Sparky?

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Photo of Mike DetmerNuLEDs, Inc., an LED lighting specialty company launching a new Power-over-Ethernet, IP-addressable LED lighting system, announced late last night that Mike “Sparky” Detmer is joining the company as its new Global Vice President for residential and light commercial markets. Detmer’s appointment is part of the company’s aggressive new ramp-up as it prepares to launch its latest PoE LED lighting solution, expected to hit the market in just a few months.

Is Detmer just the spark NuLEDs needs?… [Read more…] about NuLEDs Gets a New Spark…Or Should We Say, A New Sparky?

You Don’t Know LEDs Until You NuLEDs

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Photo of the NuLEDs Booth at 2012 CEDIA Expo

>>See a slide show of photos from the NuLEDs booth at CEDIA Expo<<

Prior to CEDIA Expo, I knew very little about LED lighting systems, but I learned a lot after meeting with Frank Sterns, new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and President at NuLEDs. The remarkable NuLEDs PoE IP-addressable LED lighting system brings a new level of control, flexibility, programmability, and energy efficiency to the market. It’s a cool system that offers a new profit opportunity to industry integrators and installers.

PoE…it’s what’s nu in lighting…

[Read more…] about You Don’t Know LEDs Until You NuLEDs

EXCLUSIVE: Nortek’s Core Brands Clears the Air with strata-GEE.com in Exclusive EXPO Interview

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Nortek's Core Brands LogoThe 2012 CEDIA Expo launched with a bang for me as I previously reported when, upon entering the convention center, I was collared by a PR person who quickly walked me (without explanation) to a high-level executive for a Nortek company who felt the need to tell me – in compelling and direct terms – what he thought of strata-GEE.com’s coverage of the Core Brands consolidation. (Hint: he didn’t like it.) After a few minutes of somewhat hot-under-the-collar conversation, things cooled off a bit and he offered to get me together with the Core Brands management to clarify the situation.

Now we’re getting somewhere… [Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: Nortek’s Core Brands Clears the Air with strata-GEE.com in Exclusive EXPO Interview