Freescale Semiconductor, a developer of embedded semiconductors for automotive, consumer, industrial and networking sectors, along with Telecom Italia (News - Alert), an Italian telecommunications company, recently displayed the latest enhancements to the Energy@Home consortium.

The Energy@Home consortium, led by ENEL, Telecom Italia, Electrolux, and Indesit, centers upon optimizing energy efficiency for customers by delivering information about their household energy usage over the metering appliance display or over their smartphone or computers.

Telecom Italia’s Claudio Borean, task leader for Energy@Home, said that the Energy @Home project will be tested in 100 homes.

Energy@Home focuses on the development of an interoperable Home Area Network (HAN) that drives optimized energy management and energy savings by offering customers with an ADSL gateway featuring wireless connectivity that leverages the ZigBee wireless protocol. Customers will also be provided with smart information devices which include smartphones and computers that use a USB ZigBee dongle key to connect with an electricity meter. Also included in Energy@Home are smart devices such as refrigerators, washers, and dryers along with smart plugs that support communication between ZigBee-enabled appliances and HAN.

"Freescale (News - Alert) is committed to providing solutions for energy management around the world,” Bruno Baylac, director of the Medical, Metering and Connectivity solutions division for Freescale Semiconductor (News - Alert), said. “We are excited about the rapid and innovative developments achieved by the Energy@Home consortium. Our longstanding relationship with Energy@Home members and other leaders in the smart grid, smart meter, appliances, and networking sectors enables us to provide a broad and deep level of expertise in supporting this critical project."

The Energy@Home solution comprises of products from Freescale that deliver optimized performance by leveraging the ZigBee transceiver (MC13226) within the energy gateway processing unit as well as the i.MX28 application processor in the gateway. Along with silicon and software solutions, the company delivers additional support to the consortium by extending its expertise within appliances, industrial, and communications sectors. Freescale offers a wide range of controllers for water, gas, heat and smart electricity meters as well as advanced home energy management systems and communications solutions.