ABB Primed for Home Automation Boom

ABB is not a new name in home automation. It has a successful legacy as a leader in the development of intelligent building technologies, which are transforming homes around the world.

With the home automation market set to experience a predicted Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 6 percent between 2017 and 2026, driven by immense interest in energy efficiency as well as the digital control of home lighting, security and other consumer systems, ABB is geared for aggressive growth.

At IFA 2018, it showcased its ABB Ability™ portfolio of connected and software-enabled solutions for the smarter home and mobility segments, which span the entire value chain, from the point-of-power generation to socket.

Tarak Mehta, President, Electrification Products division at ABB said: “ABB has been pioneering progress in building automation for more than 25 years, having launched more than 1,000 new products in the last five years alone. We have always been at the forefront of significant market milestones, as one of the first members of the KNX Association back in 1990 to the launch of our ABB-free@home home automation platform in 2014, which has now surpassed two million installations.

“Our success has been born from an unwavering commitment to put customers first and deliver market leading solutions, which meet the requirements of both today and the future. As we look forward five years the face of home automation is set to undergo a significant shift, with the number of smart homes set to reach 10 percent of all properties by 20252 and a rising demand for energy self-reliance from homeowners.

“ABB’s partnerships with market leading brands such as Amazon Alexa and Sonos and more recently with Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting), Miele and Bosch, combined with our commitment to product innovation and interoperability mean we are best placed to capitalize on this demand.”

Set to transform the smarter home segment are trends such as voice control, digitalization and artificial intelligence, which are increasingly connecting products and markets. Modern homeowners want to be connected at all times and with innovations from ABB they can now control every element of their property - from lighting through to heating, air conditioning, door communication and indoor ‘scenes’ - at the touch of a button.

Indeed, as interoperability is getting more important, ABB selected IFA 2018 to unveil a further extension to its MyBuildings portal, a secure online platform powered by ABB Ability™. By partnering with mozaiq, an ecosystem seamlessly connecting consumer devices and services, Miele and Bosch (Home Connect) home appliances can be easily integrated now and controlled via the ABB-free@home system.

Meeting the demands of the growing generation of ‘prosumers’, who want to both control and customize their home environment, ABB-free@home has undergone continued development over the last four years, with the launch of a wireless option in 2016 and the integration of Amazon Alexa and Sonos in 2017.

IFA 2018 brought to consumers a unique, fully integrated energy management system with ABB-free@home at its heart. The solution enables homeowners to harness and store their own energy from the sun with the new REACT 2 solar inverter, manage their power consumption within the home through ABB-free@home and even sustainably power an electric vehicle through ABB’s new AC charger, EVLunic, with the emissions free electricity they have generated.

Mehta continues: “Consumers want smart home functions that make their lives more comfortable and help them contribute to a greener planet. We continue to push the boundaries in everything from connectivity to security and efficiency, drawing on our unrivalled expertise in electrification to deliver simple to use and sustainable solutions for all.”

Also on show at IFA 2018 was:

• ABB-secure@home, a new, user friendly intrusion and alarm system for residential properties.
• ABB’s Busch-VoiceControl® KNX, a new voice-activated KNX control system capable of managing up to 150 building functions and the first to be compatible with the big three market leaders in voice control devices – Amazon, Google and Apple.

ABB-free@home will launch in the United States at the CEDIA Expo in San Diego, CA September 6-8 (Booth 916).

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner in ABB Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com