Recently, IoTevolutionworld editors were “On the Road” in San Jose to interview executives in the Silicon Valley to see what companies in the smart grid space were up to and what was happening in that industry. With that on the agenda, IoTevolutionworld’s Group Editorial Director Erik Linask met with Trilliant’s Sonita Lontoh, head of corporate marketing at Trilliant.
After welcoming Lontoh to TMC’s “On the Road” newsroom, Linask asked the marketing executive to give IoTevolutionworld readers an overview of Trilliant and what it was doing n that space. In response, Lontoh said that Trilliant was a global smart grid communications company that provides utilities with wireless mesh equipment to enable two-way communication networks throughout the electric grid.
Explaining further, she added, "Trilliant provides electric utilities with end-to-end communication networks that span from the head-end operations center to all devices on the grid – not only meters and in-home energy management devices but also substations and grid devices such as transformers and capacitor banks."
While talking about Trilliant, Lontoh took a step back to explain what is smart grid. “Smart grid is layering of intelligence across the whole energy grid end-to-end,” explained Lontoh.
Continuing, she added, “We provide networking hardware and software, as well as professional services that enable utilities to transform the way energy is generated, consumed and managed end-to-end.”
Linask next wanted to know why there was so much interest in smart grid. Lontoh quickly responded saying, “Our electrical infrastructure is old and goes only one way.”
“Smartgrid provides intelligent 2-way communications to enable efficient energy uses, provides more operational efficiency and gives consumers more choices,” stated Lontoh.
When asked how much does a typical consumer understand smart grid, the marketing executive was quick to say very minimal. “Today, there is not much understanding of the smart grid, which is primarily thought of as a smart meter,” noted Lontoh. Hence, according to Lontoh, it is the responsibility of the government, society, service providers and professionals to get the message out.
Finally, Linask asked Lontoh to shed some light on the global standing of smart grid and where the company was heading. In response, Lontoh said that there was tremendous growth potential overseas, both in the developing world and developed countries. In the developed world, Lontoh identified British Gas in the UK using Trilliant to deliver more services to its customers. She said the Trilliant was leveraging cellular technology to further improve smart grid communications.
Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
