As reported in the January 23, 2012 Austin American-Statesman, Pecan Street, Inc. is developing a unique facility for researchers from UT and private industry to study how consumers interact with new energy technologies.
The public-private partnership brings together eleven member companies with the UT Schools of Architecture and Engineering and the IC² Institute’s Austin Technology Incubator.
Pecan Street’s new laboratory is to be built at the Mueller redevelopment project, giving researchers ready access to power usage data from 200 homes in the neighborhood.
Researchers will study the interoperation of the grid with such new technologies as smart meters, electric vehicles, and solar panels in a real-world setting.
Said ATI Director Isaac Barchas, “There’s no other place in the world where companies can go and study how human behavior interacts with energy.”