Greentech Lead America: The ZigBee Alliance has announced
the most eco-friendly way to power ZigBee products via its new Green Power
feature.
Products, including switches and dimmers, can now be
easily powered with available energy harvesting sources rather than using a
battery or AC mains power, creating a no-maintenance, environmentally friendly
solution.
Green Power is an optional feature for the ZigBee PRO
feature set that is part of the enhanced ZigBee 2012 specification recently
ratified and released to Alliance members. It significantly expands the
capabilities of ZigBee PRO, further strengthening its leadership position as
the global standard for wireless sensor and control networks and the Internet
of Things.
With ZigBee PRO Green Power products, consumers and
businesses can add ZigBee devices to many more areas including locations where
power is unavailable, not allowed for safety reasons or for historical
preservation purposes. Product manufacturers can implement ZigBee into more
products with confidence, knowing ZigBee is backed by a thriving, innovative
and competitive ecosystem.
“The use of energy harvesting in commercial building
automation, for example, can reduce operating costs while helping organizations
to demonstrate ‘green’ credentials,” said Lisa Arrowsmith, manager of
connectivity research for IHS.
“Additionally, with over 35 million
ZigBee-enabled ‘smart home’ and home automation devices that are not
line-powered projected to be shipped by 2017, the ZigBee PRO Green Power
feature also presents a compelling option in the residential space,”
Arrowsmith added.
As a part of the extensive Alliance test and
certification plan development process, it selected golden unit development
kits from GreenPeak Technologies, Philips, Schneider Electric and Texas
Instruments. These implementations will serve as golden units against which
future ZigBee Certified products using the ZigBee 2012 specification will be
tested.
This testing process ensures compliance with the standard
so that manufacturers can be assured of consistent communications. Testing
services were provided by NTS, TRaC and TUV Rheinland.
“The Green Power feature for ZigBee PRO will allow
development of the most eco-friendly products possible,” said Bob
Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. “This smart new feature continues
ZigBee leadership in low power networking by enabling no maintenance power
source alternatives to be easily used in ZigBee Building Automation products.”