Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has unveiled a house that Honda has built in the city of Saitama, Japan, for the ongoing demonstration and evaluation of the Honda Smart Home System (HSHS) – a comprehensive and efficient home energy management system, which helps to reduce household CO2 emissions by producing independent electric energy for both home and mobility use.
The Honda Smart Home System controls in-house energy supply and demand, helping to manage both the generation and consumption of energy for the home such as heat and electricity, while also providing charging for electric vehicle mobility products. HSHS is also designed to enable users to secure their own supply of energy and mobility in a time of disaster.
Currently two houses have been constructed – one as a demonstration testing house where a Honda employee family will live to enable real-life data capture, and the other as a show house for testing and public presentation and demonstration, until 2018. The HSHS installed in these test houses consists of CIGS thin-film solar cell panels, a home battery unit (rechargeable battery), household gas-engine cogeneration unit and hot-water supply system, and the Smart e Mix Manager (SeMM).
The Smart e Mix Manager is the core of the HSHS and operates as a comprehensive energy management device. It applies optimal control to electricity supplied from the commercial grid and generated by each energy device within the system. The Smart e Mix Manager reduces CO2 emissions from the home and, at the same time, provides a backup supply of electricity so that the house can be self-sufficient in the event of a power outage or disaster. Honda will also conduct demonstration testing of the HSHS that is linked with electromotive mobility products such as electric vehicles and the Internavi system.
As part of Honda’s aim to introduce comprehensive energy management technologies for both the home and for mobility products, as well as develop manufacturing processes and mobility products that are sustainable and kind to the environment, its knowledge and expertise in both mobility products and energy creation means that Honda is uniquely placed to develop such a total energy management system.
Based on the verification results from these demonstration test houses, Honda will take advantage of its strength in producing energy creation products such as solar panels and cogeneration units and pursue total energy management within a household or community. Honda’s goal is to work together with its customers to create a low carbon lifestyle in which people can enjoy life.