News

GridPoint Connect Featured in BASF Near Zero Energy House, Serves as Hub for Home's Solar Technologies (10/5/2006)

Better Home, Better Planet Initiative Unveiled Wednesday in N.J. with Series of Events

GridPoint, Inc.(TM), a provider of intelligent energy management (IEM) appliances, today announced that GridPoint Connect(TM) was selected as a critical component of the BASF Better Home, Better Planet Initiative: Near Zero Energy House, to be unveiled Wednesday in Paterson, N.J., and showcased during three days of events. GridPoint's award-winning product is the hub for the home's solar technologies.

GridPoint Connect -- a grid-tied, battery backup product that integrates renewable energy -- serves three functions for the home. First, it acts as an inverter, converting the DC current from the photovoltaic cells into AC household current. Second, it stores electricity in advanced batteries for backup power needs. Third, it sends surplus energy onto the utility grid, resulting in a credit on the utility bill. Users can also proactively monitor and manage their energy usage by electing to access an online portal, GridPoint Central(SM).

The BASF home's high-performance, ecologically sound building and solar technologies make it 80 percent more energy efficient and faster to build than a traditional house, as well as environmentally friendly, affordable and disaster resistant. Selected by the U.S. Green Building Council's pilot testing for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes (LEED-H) rating system, the home is also Energy Star(R) certified and supports New Jersey's Solar Initiative Program. Companies donated their products to the home, which will be given to Richard Sosa, a quadriplegic boy, and his family to occupy.

"We are happy to be among the companies contributing to the BASF project, which is not only a state-of-the-art structure but a worthy cause as well," said Peter L. Corsell, President and CEO of GridPoint.

GridPoint Connect has been honored as Green Builder(R) Magazine's Most Innovative Product in the 2006 Best of Show Awards at the National Green Building Conference; a finalist for Most Innovative Commercial Technology of the Year in the Platts 2005 Global Energy Awards; and a featured product in Los Angeles Magazine's DesignHouse 2005: The Green Home, which marries healthy living with great design.

www.betterhomebetterplanet.com