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An energy-saving technology developed by Cambridge engineers has scooped an innovation in software award from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
The system, known as Alert Me.com, provides a “simple and affordable” energy and services management platform that allows consumers to monitor and control their energy usage. The technology was developed by a team of engineers from Cambridge over the last five years.
Pilgrim Beart, founder of Alert Me, said that the IET award was “fantastic recognition” of his team's efforts. “We’ve had a lot of engineers working away on this platform and were an early mover in the market. Now people are starting to realise why we’ve done what we’ve done. That’s a great feeling.”
Alert Me was founded in 2006. Beart is a something of a start-up company veteran and said he recruited a “very high calibre” team of engineers to get the Alert Me technology up and running. “It’s been a big task – akin to starting up a mobile phone network,” he said. One of the investors in a recent funding round for the technology was British Gas.
Beart said the average household spent £1,200 on energy each year. “Alert Me gives them visibility and control over what’s going on in their home in a very simple way, focused on energy. The average consumer spends £1,200 a year on energy – but has no idea where that is going.
“We can show them where the money is going and help them to get their bills under control. ”The desire to reduce carbon emissions would be aided by the technology, he said. “Consumers canfeel underpowered if when they hear worrying messages about climate change.“
But they should realise that they have their hands on the levers, because a lot of it is to do with domestic energy consumption.“There is an enormous amount of waste going on in the home, which of course does mean bigger energy costs for consumers, so there are very strong drivers from government and consumers for aplatform like Alert Me, which empowers them by showing them what is going on.
“The company provides consumers with the tools to reduce their energy consumption and bills by 15-20%, the firm said. Alert Me is based on a single home area network platform and allows consumers to monitor, control and automate a wide range of services in the home, such as energy use, heating, solar photovoltaics, security and telecare, both online and via smart phones.
Pilgrim Beart has 20 years’ experience in high-technology start-ups. He has founded three businesses as well as holding senior roles at a number of other companies. Most recently he was vice-president of R&D at Splashpower, where he was responsible for creating and protecting the core technology of the wireless power company.