A tiny village in Japan with six "smart houses" and eight Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids is designed to show the world how to generate power from renewable energy sources.
Après Nissan et son île sans CO2 au Japon, c'est au tour de Toyota de dévoiler son projet pour une société plus propre. Toyota a présenté sa vision du futur en inaugurant un petit lotissement équipé d'un réseau intelligent. Il regroupe 6 habitations écologiques et 8 Prius rechargeables. Pendant deux ans le constructeur testera le Toyota Smart Center qui a pour rôle de gérer l'énergie au sein de ce petit groupe d'habitations ainsi que la consommation et le stockage de celle-ci pour alimenter la Prius. Le constructeur ne fait pas les choses à moitié puisqu'il s'occupe de tout, de l'eau chaude aux courses, pour les personnes qui y sont installées. Pendant toute la durée du projet, elles seront aiguillées pour apprendre à gérer au mieux l'énergie et, pourquoi pas, la revendre aux voisins en cas de surplus.
ROKKASHO, Japan — Toyota unveiled its vision of the future on Thursday by launching a smart grid village here with six "smart houses" and eight Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid vehicles. The village is a two-year project designed to show the world how to generate power exclusively from renewable energy sources. The concept is reminiscent of Walt Disney's Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, the genesis of EPCOT, the Orlando, Florida, resort designed to generate new ideas for urban living using new technologies.
Toyota's project is on a much smaller scale. The automaker said the two-year demonstration project will test "the Toyota Smart Center system for creating and controlling the smart houses, plug-in hybrid vehicle control systems and energy consumption and storage." So detailed is the project that Toyota even "governs" the "EcoCute hot water heaters installed in the houses, taking usage patterns and supply loads into account."
The intriguing idea will show residents how to adjust power usage and allow them to "take part in power trading with their neighbors," the automaker said. The village's grid supplies six houses equipped with different energy management systems and automatic metering. There are vehicle charging points set up to power the Prius plug-in hybrids.
Toyota is partnering with Japan Wind Development, Panasonic Electric Works and Hitachi on the project. Electricity will be produced by wind power stations and local solar energy generation. Toyota said it is trying to develop a strategy for a "future low-carbon society" by setting up the village.
Inside Line says: It's a brave new world when Toyotaville can have its finger in everything from your car to your hot-water heater. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
