Schneider Electric Delivers Energy Management Products and Solutions in Canada

September 5, 2024

By Krystie Johnston

Canada is undergoing an energy transition to become more sustainable, reduce emissions, and reach net zero targets. Wiser Energy from Schneider Electric is an integral Energy Management System that monitors devices and energy usage in real-time, helping you use electrical energy more wisely in your building.

Buildings are the third largest producer of carbon emissions in this country, and with 16 million homes and half a million other buildings in place today, this sector has significant potential to help decarbonize the country. In addition, hundreds of thousands of new residential and commercial buildings are also required to satisfy present housing challenges and support a growing population¹. Ideally, each will need to be built with zero emissions, or must be retrofitted soon to meet 2050 targets.

Schneider Electric’s purpose as a company is to create impact by empowering everyone to make the most of their energy and resources and to bridge progress with sustainability. David O’Reilly, Vice President, Home & Commercial Solutions Division at Schneider Electric Canada sheds light on some of their energy management products and solutions that can help people and business achieve these goals without breaking the bank.

From Consumer to “Prosumer”

O’Reilly says that customers are starting to re-evaluate their role with respect to how they use energy, and in particular, electrical power. “We are moving very quickly into this new energy transition where homeowners, building owners are what we call ‘prosumers’. They are actively involved with not just managing the power that they use, but how they use it, when they use it, and where they use it.” These customers are engaged with and taking responsibility for their electrical energy usage, moving beyond the passive consumer.

Many Canadians already generate electricity in their homes and businesses, and O’Reilly sees more people who want to be able to generate and store power at their locations with the ability to use it and manage it as they want and need it. This ability offers advantages such as reduced grid reliance and cost savings.

“If there is a power issue, and you can generate and store some power locally at home – and use it efficiently – that is going to be a great thing for homeowners and building owners. It is going to make our communities, homes, and commercial environments much more resilient,” he says.

Schneider’s products and solutions for energy management focus on this new model of the ‘prosumer.’ This means developing solutions from the grid or panel/breaker in buildings right to the outlet or switch within. A new offering they have is a panel that integrates battery storage. Homeowners and commercial building owners who generate their own power within their building – with solar or wind for example – can store it and manage it as they desire. This presents several benefits to end users.

“They proactively manage that power as the prosumer in the home. What our products allow them to do is give them not just the option of on/off. Through our Wiser Whole Home Solution, what we can do is tell the homeowner how much power they are using, the actual load that each receptacle or switch in the building is using, and what is plugged into the receptacle. This can really add to people’s thoughts about their energy usage,” O’Reilly explains. “What we are also really focused on is service upgrade avoidance.”

Monitor Energy Usage in Real Time, for Safer, More Efficient Buildings

As homes and businesses become increasingly more electrified, a service upgrade may be inevitable. O’Riley says that with the Wiser Home Solution, this can be avoided, because it helps the building owner know what is drawing power throughout the day and night. It helps them see how much power something is using – a heat pump, EV charger, hair dryer, anything drawing an electrical load – and let them manage that power consumption and the load that is distributed to every switch and outlet, and every device that is plugged in.

“We think this is absolutely the way in which things have to go. And that is really what we are focused on. That is the true notion of the prosumer; giving the homeowner [or building owner] the power to proactively manage everything in the home [or building] is the real power of where we are taking things,” says O’Reilly.

Schneider’s Wise Home Solution will work equally well with new builds as it will with retrofits and their technology will work across the board, with any other manufacturers’ equipment. O’Reilly says that today, in a building, if you install a Schneider panel you need to use a Schneider breaker, and the same is true the other way around if you choose a different manufacturer. The beauty of the Wiser Solution is that they have developed it to be an agnostic solution, meaning that anyone can plug their solution into a competitor’s panel, at the main feed, and it will function the same way it will on a panel from Schneider.

“That is number one,” says O’Reilly. If someone has a competitor’s panel, they do not need to switch to a Schneider one. “The other thing that we are doing is, all our service upgrade avoidance in our future-based solutions will work just as well in existing housing stock as they will in a new home. So, if you have a 100-amp panel today, we have solutions for a 100-amp solution. If you have a 125, we have solutions for that. If you have a 200-amp panel, we have solutions for that. Everything is built around [the idea of] how can we help the homeowner to achieve what they want to achieve by avoiding that service upgrade piece.”

Easy Installation, New Builds and Retrofits

O’Reilly says the Wiser Solution is easy for anyone to use and that people like it because it is simple to install, manage, and is readily available. “A licensed electrician does need to do the installation for it because we are putting two clamps on the main,” he cautions, but once it is installed, it is easy to use. It automatically detects and reads everything drawing power in the building and, through Schneider’s AI Interface, it can tell the user what type of device is plugged in.

“What I just love is the excitement around people who are even skeptical at the start, and they are thinking that they are saving [energy] and doing really well and managing energy very wisely. And we have shown, even in newer homes – new homes that have been built in just the last few years, well-built, insulated, have new windows and doors and LED lights – instances where giving the homeowner the power to see how much energy they are using at every outlet and receptacle, we have been able to drive an incremental 20 to 25% savings for some people,” says O’Reilly.

Conclusion

Canada currently has goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-45% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050. Electrification is the most cost-effective and efficient approach to decarbonizing buildings in most parts of the country. Beyond reducing emissions, building green from the start and green building retrofits can make buildings more livable, improve air quality, and significantly reduce overall costs for occupants.

Schneider’s role in helping with the energy transition focuses on addressing what they can from the perspective of the homeowner or building owner and helping them do things better and more wisely. With Schneider’s Wiser Solution, what will you save?

David O’Reilly

Building on his extensive experience as an executive leader with national and international experience, David leads a team of professionals across Canada that are focused on delivering energy management products and solutions for both the Home and IT/Data Centre verticals.

David is passionate about smart home technology, Prosumer advancement, as well as protecting the quality and availability of electrical power in critical infrastructure such as industrial plants, airports and healthcare. He has been featured in many media publications, including The Globe & Mail, Electrical Industry Newsweek, The Hill Times and Electrical Business.

More Information

Interested in learning more about the Wiser Solution? Visit Schneider Electric today.

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