APC 2011 Annual Report Download - page 30

28 2011 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
DESCRIPTION OFTHEGROUP, ANDITSSTRATEGY, MARKETS ANDBUSINESSES
1R&D STRATEGY
The project will form a showcase of technology from 2015 with the
development of two platforms in Lyon and Grenoble.
This experiment will involve nearly 1,000residential customers and
40tertiary sites in urban areas.
MILLENER: the MILLENER research project (One Thousand Energy
Management Installations on the Islands) aims to help reduce user
energy consumption and to integrate the intermittent renewable
energies more effectively into the distribution networks so as to
guarantee the real-time balance between electricity demand and
production.
It takes account of the particularities of a non-interconnected isolated
network, like that of the islands, and the need to make users aware
of how to manage their consumption. These experiments will also
include installation of photovoltaic panels, energy storage systems
and management of electrical equipment. The experiments will take
place in Corsica, Guadeloupe and Reunion.
Co-innovation around electrical vehicle
Ease of charging will be one of the key factors in public acceptance
of electric vehicles and is therefore an important line of research for
Schneider Electric and its partners.
A close partnership was established with Renault regarding
induction charging, dispensing with the need for cable connection.
The theoretical studies and the fi rst prototypes showed that the
system performance achieved over 90%, meaning a system rollout
can be planned and the project has entered the development
phase.
Contribution to standards
Effective energy management uses a measure and control that is
always more precise, resulting in effective and less expensive means
of communication. This is why Schneider Electric is one of the
most active members of the ZigBee consortium and is particularly
involved in the proposal for a protocol called Green Power, a radio
communication with extremely low energy consumption which can
be used in self-powered devices (e.g. by solar power).
2011 saw the acceptance of the Green Power standard by the
ZigBee consortium, opening the way to applying it industry-wide.
Energy effi ciency in buildings is regulated by a European Commission
framework directive: the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
(EPBD), rewritten in 2010, defi nes the requirements for technical
systems, their on-site inspection and in particular for the active
control systems such as the automation, control and monitoring
systems. Within the context of this directive, a European
standardisation committee proposed a standard regarding the
impact of these systems on building performance: EN15232. This
standard proposes classifying systems into performance classes in
the same way as for electrical domestic appliances but with only
four levels A, B, C and D – classA having the highest performance
(26% - 52% reduction in energy consumption according to building
type), while class D identifi es the lack of automation and/or ineffi cient
systems and requires improvement.
In the same spirit, the European association eu.bac (European
Building Automation Controls Association), with presidency held
by Schneider Electric, in 2009 launched a programme to promote
standard EN15232 consisting of the implementation of periodic
inspections on the systems site to check certifi cation as well as to
monitor performance over time: EEBACS, for energy effi ciency of
automation systems. Schneider Electric is the leader of this initiative.
Supporting Sustainable Development
In line with Schneider Electric’s commitment to sustainable
development within the framework of the BipBop programme,
the Company has worked for two years on a project involving a
concentrated solar power plant adapted for communities that are
not connected to the electrical grid. Compared to photovoltaics,
the concentrated solar power process has many advantages in this
type of application:
•energy storage capacity, in the form of heat, that is economic,
safe and environmentally friendly compared to batteries that can
be stolen and need to be recycled at the end of their working life;
•use of residual heat for associated activities, such as crop drying
or water purifi cation;
•simple maintenance and ability to build the heaviest and bulkiest
components locally.
The project, which brings together Schneider Electric and fi ve smaller
companies, has obtained fi nancing from ADEME (Environment
and Energy Management Agency) to start on the prototype and
to confi rm the business model. The project has also received
money from the MEDEF (Movement for French Companies) for
collaboration between startups (STIRAL) and large companies.
3.4 Human capital
The main force behind Schneider Electric R&D is its global network
of 11 ,000 employees who are directly involved in research and
development or technical engineering activities in 26 countries and
over more than 70sites.
In order to profi t fully from this collective expertise, an ambitious
programme was launched to support the networks of expertise
in key domains formally identifi ed according to the Company’s
strategy. For each of these domains, a formal strategy is defi ned
an implemented by a dedicated network of experts, both internal
and external:
•identifi cation of trends and signs of weakness in the domain;
•participation in structured research projects and partnerships;
•structuring of critical domain expertise;
•and implementation in the Group’s R&D programmes.
A supplementary network of R&D centres
In addition to ensuring Schneider Electric’s presence in the main
areas of expertise and innovation, the role of R&D centres is to
develop the critical expertise given above for the whole of the
Group. It is an additional area of collaboration between members
of the Innovation and Technology Board to organise R&D in the
centres of excellence located within the Group’s fi ve R&D hubs.