Silver Spring Networks
Encyclopedia
Silver Spring Networks is a provider of smart grid products, headquartered in Redwood City, California
, with offices in Australia
and Brazil
. Besides communications devices, Silver Spring Networks develops software for utilities and customers to improve energy efficiency
.
Founded in 2002 as a privately held company backed by venture capital
, in 2011 Silver Spring Networks filed for an initial public offering
.
.
Original founders included Donn Dresselhuys and his son Eric Dresselhuys who had worked on related technology since 1995.
In 2002, funding came from Denver angel investor
Jack Thompson.
The company adopted the name of a neighborhood in Mlwaukee and was transferred to Redwood City, California
in 2003 with an $8 million investment from Foundation Capital
. Ray Bell became interim CEO and chief technology officer, but left to found Grid Net in 2005.
Other investors included Northgate Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google
.
The first large pilot deployment was started in 2007 with Florida Power & Light
(FPL) in southern Florida.
In 2008, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
(PG&E) signed an agrement to provide the company's smart meters, and remained the largest customer for at least several years.
In early 2011, some speculated that Cisco Systems
might buy the company.
However, Cisco had already invested in rival Gid Net in 2010.
On July 7, 2011, Silver Spring Networks filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering
.
It planned to trade under smbol SSNI on the New York Stock Exchange
.
s and transmits energy consumption data between meters, consumers and utilities in real time. The software indicates how much money is spent on electricity and indicates how much can be saved if one switches to energy-efficient models.
The meters in the PG&E deployment include two radios: one in the unlicensed ISM band
of 902 to 928 MHz for communication back to the utility provider, and another intended for future communication to a home network
.
The technology has low bit rate requirements, but also needs to be very low cost.
Silver Spring is a partner with more than 40 companies and provides additional applications to utilities and customers on the Smart Energy Platform like smart thermostats, in-home displays, and electric vehicle
(EV) charging technology.
Silver Spring began its technology offering with a smart grid network based on Internet Protocol
(IP) technology, which was advocated for the smart grid by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) and other smart grid experts. Silver Spring expanded on the network to smart grid application software that includes demand response (DR), demand management and other services for utilities and their customers.
In October 2009 Silver Spring acquired Greenbox Technology, and developed its web-based software into a product called CustomerIQ.
In a Oklahoma Gas & Electric
pilot program involving 2,500 homes in the summer of 2010 on Silver Spring’s Smart Energy Platform, participants saw an average energy use drop of up to 33 percent during the highest price periods. The pilot consisted of several groups using Silver Spring’s web-based energy management solution as well as smart thermostats and in-home energy displays on various dynamic pricing schemes.
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
, with offices in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Besides communications devices, Silver Spring Networks develops software for utilities and customers to improve energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...
.
Founded in 2002 as a privately held company backed by venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
, in 2011 Silver Spring Networks filed for an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
.
History
Silver Spring Networks was founded in 2002 under a different name in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
.
Original founders included Donn Dresselhuys and his son Eric Dresselhuys who had worked on related technology since 1995.
In 2002, funding came from Denver angel investor
Angel investor
An angel investor or angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity...
Jack Thompson.
The company adopted the name of a neighborhood in Mlwaukee and was transferred to Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
in 2003 with an $8 million investment from Foundation Capital
Foundation capital
Foundation Capital is a venture capital firm located in Silicon Valley. The firm was founded in 1995, and manages over $2.4 billion in investment capital. It raised its seventh and largest fund of $750 million in April 2008...
. Ray Bell became interim CEO and chief technology officer, but left to found Grid Net in 2005.
Other investors included Northgate Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
.
The first large pilot deployment was started in 2007 with Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light Company, the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. , commonly referred to by its initials, FPL, is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility which serves roughly 4.4 million customers in Florida. FPL Group holds power generation assets in more than 20 U.S...
(FPL) in southern Florida.
In 2008, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company , commonly known as PG&E, is the utility that provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield almost to the Oregon border...
(PG&E) signed an agrement to provide the company's smart meters, and remained the largest customer for at least several years.
In early 2011, some speculated that Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
might buy the company.
However, Cisco had already invested in rival Gid Net in 2010.
On July 7, 2011, Silver Spring Networks filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
.
It planned to trade under smbol SSNI on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
.
Technology
Silver Spring Networks develops equipment that creates wireless mesh networkWireless mesh network
A wireless mesh network is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. Wireless mesh networks often consist of mesh clients, mesh routers and gateways.The mesh clients are often laptops, cell phones and other wireless devices while the mesh routers forward traffic...
s and transmits energy consumption data between meters, consumers and utilities in real time. The software indicates how much money is spent on electricity and indicates how much can be saved if one switches to energy-efficient models.
The meters in the PG&E deployment include two radios: one in the unlicensed ISM band
ISM band
The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....
of 902 to 928 MHz for communication back to the utility provider, and another intended for future communication to a home network
Home network
A home network or home area network is a residential local area network . It is used for communication between digital devices typically deployed in the home, usually a small number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers and mobile computing devices...
.
The technology has low bit rate requirements, but also needs to be very low cost.
Silver Spring is a partner with more than 40 companies and provides additional applications to utilities and customers on the Smart Energy Platform like smart thermostats, in-home displays, and electric vehicle
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...
(EV) charging technology.
Silver Spring began its technology offering with a smart grid network based on Internet Protocol
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
(IP) technology, which was advocated for the smart grid by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) and other smart grid experts. Silver Spring expanded on the network to smart grid application software that includes demand response (DR), demand management and other services for utilities and their customers.
In October 2009 Silver Spring acquired Greenbox Technology, and developed its web-based software into a product called CustomerIQ.
In a Oklahoma Gas & Electric
Oklahoma Gas & Electric
Oklahoma Gas & Electric is a regulated electric utility company that serves over 750,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. On December 9, 2007 OG&E experienced the worst power outage in Oklahoma history with over 250 thousand customers without power and over 630 thousand state wide...
pilot program involving 2,500 homes in the summer of 2010 on Silver Spring’s Smart Energy Platform, participants saw an average energy use drop of up to 33 percent during the highest price periods. The pilot consisted of several groups using Silver Spring’s web-based energy management solution as well as smart thermostats and in-home energy displays on various dynamic pricing schemes.