Opower and nest lead home energy management vendors

A new Leaderboard Report from Navigant Research identifies Opower and Nest as the two leading home energy management vendors. Specifically, Navigant concluded that “Opower sustains success with a leading suite of solutions, while Google’s Nest Labs innovates and expands its home energy management capabilities.”

“While 

hardware is certainly an important part of HEM, as the market continues to grow, software platforms and analytics play an even more important role in engaging customers and fostering awareness, such as participating in demand response or energy efficiency programs,” says Paige Leuschner, research associate with Navigant Research. “Opower and Google’s Nest Labs have shown that they offer solutions mutually beneficial to utilities and customers that outpace competitors.”

According to the definition surrounding Navigant Research’s latest Leaderboard Report, home energy management (HEM) “technologies and services include home energy reports, web portals, standalone HEM, in-home displays, and networked HEM.”

 

In the two years since Navigant last released this report, they note that “the HEM market has seen tremendous change,” with “the current market momentum” beginning “in January 2014, when Google acquired Nest Labs” — the famous maker of the Nest Learning Thermostat, which just launched its third-generation model of its flagship device. According to Navigant, Google’s acquisition of Nest Labs “sent a signal to others in the HEM market that it was time to reconsider opportunities that had been moving at a sluggish pace.”

In other words, the sexy Nest Learning Thermostat revealed a way that the HEM market could succeed. Since then, a number of companies have stepped up their game — such as Honeywell and Opower — while others have pulled out, or settled in to smaller roles.

Specifically, Opower and Nest acquired leadership on Navigant’s Leaderboard “by offering suites of technology solutions that align with utility goals to engage residential customers and help them become more energy efficient,” and lead the market both in terms of strategy and execution. 

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/09/04/opower-nest-lead-home-energy-management-vendors/