Andreas Schneider, chief marketing officer and co-founder of EnOcean and Paul Wilmshurst, MD at Helvar UK
Helvar has signed up as a member of the EnOcean Alliance to ensure its products are compatible and interface with other energy harvesting, wireless monitoring and control systems from the same standard.
“We are fully aware of how important interoperability is to specifiers and consultants and I’m pleased that Helvar can grow the lighting control side of the EnOcean Alliance,” said Helvar’s managing director, Paul Wilmshurst. “The green credentials of EnOcean are an obvious and comfortable fit for the direction in which we are moving at Helvar.”
EnOcean’s portfolio is made up of energy harvesting, wireless and battery-less products. A good example is a light switch which derives energy from the action of a building user turning it off and on to send a wireless signal to a light fitting. Helvar said much of its current and planned product releases will share the EnOcean Alliance’s goal of interoperability ensured by standardised application profiles. Helvar’s first EnOcean-compatible products are expected from summer 2013.
“To have a company with the heritage and market position of Helvar join the alliance is extremely beneficial to end-users and reinforces how important EnOcean solutions have become,” said Andreas Schneider, chief marketing officer and co-founder of EnOcean. “I’m excited to see its first EnOcean-based product as, besides HVAC, lighting is one of the main consumers of energy in buildings. That said Helvar’s existing solutions are known for shifting this trend.”
By adding further wireless products to its range, Helvar said it will continue its expansion into the residential market, catering for listed buildings and modern, design-conscious properties where wireless control is appealing.
Simultaneously, Helvar anticipates that EnOcean-based products will open up a gateway to Helvar’s commercial projects too, where they have the potential to work in sync with other BMS technologies which control, for example, automated blinds and HVAC. Helvar’s EnOcean-compatible products will provide a gateway to Helvar lighting control systems.