Tollgrade Communications (News - Alert) and Echelon Corporation have collaborated to provide a solution for smart grid analytics. Real-time visibility into the power distribution network and grid analytics is offered by this solution. Usage and demand can be therefore monitored. An announcement in this regard has been made by Tollgrade Communications. Echelon Corporation is a top open-standard energy control networking company in the industry.

End-to-end smart grid analytics are delivered by LightHouse, an application from Tollgrade. The application has been built for Echelon’s Control Operating System or COS. Outages can be prevented with this application. Asset and vegetation management can be used to reduce operating expenses. Revenue for utilities can be also protected with this application.

Tollgrade's next generation medium voltage LightHouse sensors and analytic software is leveraged by the Tollgrade application. Echelon's Edge Control Node or ECN hosts the COS software platform. The Tollgrade application runs within this platform. Smart sensing and intelligent analytics for instantaneous feedback on the operational status of the grid is provided by the LightHouse application.

In a release, Ed Kennedy, President and CEO of Tollgrade, said, "Echelon's COS platform is an ideal complement to our LightHouse distribution grid monitoring solution. Utilities today are working to improve the reliability and efficiency of the grid. These improvements require dynamic, real-time intelligence."

According to Kennedy, intelligence and control to the distribution grid has been added with the integration of Tollgrade's LightHouse solution with the COS platform. Both utilities and consumers are therefore provided direct benefits.

According to Ron Sege, President and CEO of Echelon, utilities will be able to benefit from this innovative smart energy application made available through the collaboration of Echelon and Tollgrade. The power of Echelon's energy control networking platform is leveraged by this application. A truly open, intelligent and distributed system is therefore available which moves beyond centralized reading of meters. This system can monitor and react to increasingly dynamic and demanding environment.

Sege said, "As demand for electricity grows and its supply becomes increasingly distributed, utilities can now enhance customer experience through improved reliability, accelerated response times and increased efficiencies."