Palo Alto, Dec.21, 2016: PARC, a Xerox company, has secured funding with the US Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to invest US $19 million to improve the efficiency of the country’s homes, offices, schools, hospitals, restaurants and stores.
“Distributed sensing enables richer knowledge of any environment, detecting air quality, temperature, humidity, occupancy, and more,” said David Schwartz, project lead and Manager of Energy Devices and Systems at PARC. “Sensors need to be low-cost, easily deployed, require little or no maintenance, and be able to store enough energy to do their job. PARC’s flexible, printed and hybrid electronics enable the unique peel-and-stick form factor, provide affordable, plug-and-play installation, and allow for remote radio frequency power delivery.”
PARC has a history in developing hybrid electronics with varying functionality and flexible form factors. One of the challenges in distributed sensing is power. PARC’s low-cost sensors are powered by RF energy instead of batteries, which have limited life, or light, which can be ineffective inside of buildings. The innovative peel-and-stick deployment provides simple and affordable installation advantages. Sensors can be applied throughout the facility and easily replaced or moved when necessary, allowing for a deeper and more accurate understanding of building environment than what is currently available. The sensors are also auto-locating, facilitating commissioning, and enabling additional capabilities, such as automatic wall mapping.
The key to the success of any widespread IoT deployment is the ability to utilise configurable, on-demand, low cost, sensor systems, and to design the technology to best fit the application.
The DOE Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) solicitation this past year is funding a total of 18 projects, encompassing sensors and controls, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and related technologies, windows, building envelopes (the physical elements, such as doors and walls, separating a building’s interior from its exterior) and energy modeling. The RFID projects fall within the sensors and controls category.
Incorporated as an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox in 2002, PARC provides custom R&D services, technology, expertise, best practices, and intellectual property to Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies, startups, and government agencies and partners.
Image Credit: PARC