Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Student, Anna Demeo Plans to Use Smart Energy Monitor in Schools

Posted February 12, 2012

Smart grid research by a University of Maine doctoral student is helping grade school educators learn about energy and how to conserve it in their schools and homes.

Interdisciplinary Ph.D. candidate Anna Demeo, a physics instructor at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, helped develop the prototype of the Smart Energy monitor with funds from the Maine Space Grant Consortium. She and her COA colleague David Feldman received a $95,000 grant in 2010 for smart grid research and energy education. Demeo is completing her doctorate in ocean engineering at UMaine.

A central focus of Demeo’s research is monitoring energy consumption and production on Roque Island in Washington County, Maine, where there are several year-round homes and a farm. Among other findings, the Smart Energy prototype there revealed a persistently high reading on one circuit, helping to identify a pump that was running continuously.  As the island moves toward using more renewable electricity, such as solar, Demeo will use the Savant Energy system to turn on and off appliances to reduce demand when production is low and increase demand when there is a surplus. The goal is for the island to decrease reliance on an underwater cable that carries electricity from the mainland and ultimately to become energy-independent.  For the full UMaine News story, please click here.