Panasonic Develops Residential Distribution Panelboard for the Realization of the Future Smart Grid Society

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation today announced the development of a new residential distribution panelboard called the "Smart Cosmo™^*1." This newly developed distribution panelboard will play a central role in power distribution and information management in the home and is capable of supporting various functions that will become available in the future. With this new development, the company aims to increase the penetration of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) in the market towards the realization of a Smart Grid^*2 society. The "Smart Cosmo™" is scheduled for commercialization in FY 2015 (for the year ending March 31, 2015).

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, consumer consciousness of energy and energy saving has greatly changed due to the continuing issue of energy supply and demand. In addition, as the Japanese government is planning the liberalization of the electricity retail market in 2016 and the installation of smart meters in all households in the early 2020s, it is expected that the electricity tariff system and services will diversify in the future, and the environment surrounding home electrical power will greatly change.

The "Smart Cosmo™" will "visualize" energy usage in the home, including electricity, gas, and water, and by utilizing power usage measurement data, create new services that support users' lives and encourage energy saving, providing a safe and comfortable lifestyle for users.

The "Smart Cosmo™" has also been designed to support various changes in the environment and support for services that are expected in the future Smart Grid Society. In addition to supporting photovoltaic power generation systems, home fuel cell systems, and the company's energy creation-storage linked system installed at the time of building the home, it will also support the addition of new equipment to the home through the simple installation of the necessary measuring equipment in the panelboard, reducing the required work for the installation and saving space.

In the future, by linking the "Smart Cosmo™" to a smart meter, it will be capable of supporting demand response control and peak cut and peak shift adjustments that power companies are considering introducing, contributing to the stabilization of the electricity demand/supply balance and the prevention of large scale blackouts.

Panasonic will provide the "Smart Cosmo™" which can respond to future changes in the social environment as a standard piece of equipment for future residences. In addition to linking to equipment in the home, such as electrical equipment and home appliances, Panasonic will expand its home energy management system, "SMARTHEMS^®*1" which offers a connected, expanded and evolving lifestyle, contributing to the realization of a more comfortable and safer society.

Residential panelboard "Smart Cosmo™"
* Conceptual image of the product under development

Conceptual image

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Since its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates over 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.30 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2013. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company strives to create a better life and a better world for its customers. For more information about Panasonic, please visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.