Echoflex products and demand response

Leading edge case study provides clues into demand response 

Echoflex was involved in a demand response study done in conjunction with Energy Solutions, PG@E and Lawrence Berkley Labs. The invitation for Echoflex to participate was late and the firmware still hadn't been done but in two weeks we were able to install our products in a small office environment and realize the same level of performance that other systems were able to develop.

Quote from Press Release;

"EnOcean-based wireless lighting controls, manufactured by Echoflex Solutions, demonstrated significant energy savings in independent testing and lived up to the task of shedding peak loads during Demand Response events. Wireless dimming controls were installed in an Energy Solutions office building in Oakland, CA to assess the Smart Grid potential of the automation controls. Within seconds of receiving PG&E utility Demand Response signals, the Echoflex system reduced lighting levels in scale with utility prescribed Demand Response levels. Onsite verification and monitoring showed that the Echoflex wireless sensor network provided reliable means of propagating DR signals throughout buildings in response to DR events.

Echoflex’s energy harvesting wireless system earned additional accolades when the contractor found it “easy-to-install even though they had no experience with system”. The energy harvesting and wireless qualities of EnOcean-based controls radically overcome the installation barriers associated with “wired” solutions. In this case, the DR goals were met without the intrusive installation costs historically present in retrofit installations. The DR signals are carried over-the-air, through walls and ceilings to shed lighting energy loads in the office building. The study showed that the price of batteryless and wireless solutions is more cost-effective for retrofit applications than traditional wired controls.

At the time (2007), our products were determined to be of equal success for energy savings and easy to install, but were lacking in their ability to be commissioned in the field. Echoflex, unlike the others, was not able to send a technician down to commission the system but instead relied on the office manager at the site that was being retrofitted and while the system was awkward - they did it and it was successful. We have made many improvements since then, and now our solutions are some of the more cost effective, simple to install and commission systems in the market today.

 Wireless communication to lighting controllers on dimming
fluorescent fixtures resulted in 67% savings during peak load
shedding times.