News

1 July 2009

 

Skyworks partners with energy providers to meet demand for smart meters

Skyworks Solutions Inc of Woburn, MA, USA, which manufactures linear products, power amplifiers, front-end modules and radio solutions for handset and infrastructure equipment, says that it is partnering with several of the energy industry’s top solution providers to meet the growing worldwide demand for smart water, gas and electric meter readers.

The strategic partnerships are enabling the firm to develop and ramp low-cost solutions for remote meter reading applications and smart grid technologies. Smart grids deliver power and energy from suppliers to consumers using digital technology, reducing utility and consumer costs while increasing system reliability. Governments and utilities are actively promoting smart grids to address energy independence, global warming and emergency resilience issues, says Skyworks.

Customers include Badger Meter, ESCO Technologies, Itron, Landis + Gyr Group, and Sensus. Each of these energy management providers are using Skyworks’ front-end modules and linear products for their next-generation meters and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solutions.

“The energy management space has tremendous potential with several catalysts driving demand,” says Liam K. Griffin, senior VP, sales & marketing. “The adoption of wireless technology provides a compelling benefit to metering suppliers and utilities, and we are in the early stages of this global upgrade cycle,” he adds. Skyworks is delivering a suite of customized analog solutions in support of the rapidly growing market.

Gartner expects more than 150 million smart meters to be installed worldwide in the next five years, with about 50% in North America – creating a cumulative semiconductor business of $2bn by 2012. In the same December 2008 report, Gartner added that by 2012 consumers will be able to use personal communication devices (such as cellular phones) remotely to control the power consumption of electronics in their homes.

See related item:

Automatic meter reading and smart energy to lead 802.15.4/ZigBee use

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Visit: www.skyworksinc.com