As the centerpiece of EnergyHub’s innovative solution, the Dashboard tracks and manages energy use of the entire home, and of individual appliances, in real time. The Dashboard also allows utilities to communicate messages and pricing directly to their customers, a breakthrough that facilitates better service and energy savings for providers and consumers.

The EnergyHub Dashboard “is something I saw demonstrated earlier this year and it blew me away,” says Lev Grossman, senior writer at Time and editor of the magazine’s annual Best Inventions issue. “In a car you can usually see how much gas you’re using. With electricity in a home, you never could before. But now… in real time you can, using EnergyHub, and I think it’s going to save America billions and billions of dollars.”

The Dashboard is currently deployed in utility pilots in the US and will be available direct to consumers early next year. “This is going to be in homes in 2010, and it should have a huge impact,” says Josh Tyrangiel, Time deputy managing editor and managing editor of Time.com.

“It’s very exciting to be named a Best Invention by such a prestigious publication,” says EnergyHub CEO Seth Frader-Thompson. “I think it also speaks to the demand of the market. Both utilities and consumers want to be able to take action to increase energy efficiency and save money. At EnergyHub, we have been working very hard to deliver practical and valuable solutions, so it’s particularly gratifying to receive this honor.”

nissan leaf

Nissan changed the game for automakers planning electric vehicles in August when it unveiled the Leaf. The all-electric C-segment vehicle travels at speeds up to 90 miles per hour and goes 100 miles on a full charge. Nissan says it will only take 30 minutes to charge the batteries to 80% of their capacity at a high-power charging station. The Leaf is expected to sell for between $35,000 and $45,000.

The car won’t hit production lines until the fall of 2010, but that didn’t stop Time Magazine from calling it one of the best inventions of 2009. Even more significant, perhaps, is how much interest the Leaf has generated with Time’s readers. When asked to rank each invention on a 100-point scale, the respondents gave the Leaf an average ranking of 75, making it the 10th most important invention on the list. The electric eye took the top spot, followed closely by the $10 million light bulb and the solar shingle.

This is good news for Japan’s third largest automaker. Though we’ve been hearing about the Chevy Volt for years now, Nissan dropped the Leaf just a few months ago and it’s already earning accolades. Everyday, the future of green transportation looks brighter (but maybe not as bright as the aforementioned light bulb).

Source: Time Magazine