Control Your Fridge, TV and A/C from your iPhone

It's 6 a.m., you're late for work, you rush out the door, and halfway to the office, you realize: Damn, I left on the TV and lights. Luckily, you've got your iPhone, and with a simple tap of the finger, you can shut down your house and save that energy.

Palo Alto-based green tech startup, People Power, will this month launch a free app that does just this. The company believes the technology will lead to increased energy efficiency in homes and small businesses.

Gene Wang, CEO of People Power and former CEO of Bitfone, a startup that sold to Hewlett-Packard for upward of $100 million, believes that his company can have great success and benefit the environment.

“People Power is all about empowering people to save money,” Wang said. “Going green saves money. People don’t even know how much energy they are wasting.”

People Power’s technology is designed to provide users with information about their energy consumption habits. The company, which made GigaOM's "Top 10 Greentech Companies to Watch" list, has created a free application that is compatible with iPhones, iPads and Android phones.

The app works with a variety of third party hardware setups to gather real-time data about energy usage. According to the company website, the app allows users to view a “itemized list” of their energy usage, breaking down a sum total into separate categories by type of device, room/office or single device. This kind of detailed, immediate data gives people a chance to potentially save a lot of money.

“It has been determined that immediate feedback can save users up to 12 percent,” Wang said. “Currently, people don’t have a chance to conduct real-time energy management, which is another piece [People Power is] focusing on.”

People Power’s Energy Services Platform (ESP) works with third-party hardware manufacturers to give users remote control of their appliances and energy-consuming devices. Through the app, users can communicate with their appliances via People Power’s ESP cloud software. Wireless commands can be relayed in order to turn off lights, cut power to televisions or control other electronics such as thermostats.

According to energystar.gov, 29 percent of the average single-family's home’s energy usage is devoted to heating and cooling. People Power’s ESP gives users the opportunity to reduce this number by organizing real time data into a user friendly format and by opening a wireless connection with devices such as thermostats.

“What you don’t know, you can’t control,” Wang said. “People don’t even know they’re using energy [so it’s hard] to cut down on energy waste. Out product gives them information and that is power.”

The city of Palo Alto is partnering with People Power on a trial program set to begin in August.

“The city is looking at ways to support green startups [like People Power] and to increase energy efficiency,” Thomas Fehrenbach, the city's economic development manager, said in a phone interview.

Palo Alto plans to support people through endorsement and funding that will go toward the hardware setups needed for the three month pilot program.

“[Palo Alto] wants to know whether or not the ESP is successful, but from what we’ve seen, we think it has potential in the marketplace,” Fehrenbach said.

People Power plans to introduce its technology into at least 30 small businesses and homes. They are stilling looking for volunteers and can be contacted here.