You don’t have to be MacGyver—the 1980s TV detective who used paper clips, rubber bands, and anything else handy to get himself out of a tight spot—to use the new smart energy applications being developed by Norcross, Georgia-based Hitachi Communication Technologies America, Inc. (Hitachi CTA) and Boulder, Colorado-based Tendril. But the two companies are positing that what we have in our homes already can deliver energy monitoring, management, and device control.

 They are partnering to deliver a wide range of smart energy applications to consumers via an array of set-top boxes, wireless gateways and other devices that are already in the home. And their joint efforts are being geared to dramatically improve the economics of home energy management by providing an economical and operational alternative to special-purpose gateways and other specialized hardware for each application used by the subscriber.

Through the Hitachi (News - Alert)/Tendril relationship, the Tendril Energize suite of web and mobile home energy management applications will now be available via the Hitachi SuperJ Applications Ecosystem, an open, Java-based platform compliant with OSGi Alliance specifications.

Hitachi and Tendril believe that combining their strengths will enable consumers to gain expanded and ready access to the latest applications for home energy management, and will provide energy, telecom and cable service providers with an open, cloud-based platform that supports ease of deployment and lifecycle maintenance. Hitachi and Tendril already have validated the operation of the Tendril application running on SuperJ-enabled gateways from several major suppliers of service provider gateways.

“Hitachi is excited to partner with Tendril, the leader in delivering consumer engagement energy management applications and services,” said David Foote (News - Alert), Hitachi CTA chief technology officer. “We believe that as increasing attention is given to energy use, including energy conservation and the development of renewable energy sources, the ability of consumers to be aware of and control their energy usage will become critical.”

“For energy providers, which comprise most of Tendril’s customer base, the ability to engage customers in energy management programs via SuperJ-enabled gateways that are already in the home is an important new competitive advantage,” said Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck. “It provides an easy and innovative way to improve energy management and customer satisfaction without the cost of special-purpose gateways and other hardware devices.”

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