Intel Chips: Coming Soon to a Smart Grid Near You

Smart Grid Technology coming to your home electric meterBy Michael Kanellos
In the relatively near future, you can expect to see some announcements about Intel (INTC) getting its chips into smart grid equipment like intelligent meters.

That’s the word from Joe Jensen, general manager of the Intel Embedded Computing Group. The company has been working with a few companies on experimenting with Intel chips in smart grid equipment, he said.

The smart grid deals are part of an overall effort within Intel’s embedded processor division to expand where possible. The company already sells chips that are incorporated into wind turbines. Some wind turbines have up to 16 processors that track everything from power output to the pitch of the blades. If the blades don’t adjust to wind speed, they can shear off.

“A lot of the processing goes into preventing them from going into self-destruct,” he said. “They vary the blade pitch constantly.”