Scott Lang, chairman, president and CEO of Silver Spring Networks, demonstrated last week its 2012 prototype Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, along with the newly-installed Silver Spring-enabled ClipperCreek electric vehicle charging stations.

Silver Spring Networks is a smart grid solution provider that enables utilities to achieve operational efficiencies, reduce carbon emissions and empower their customers to monitor and manage their energy consumption.

Lan discussed his participation in the worldwide Toyota Prius PHEV demonstration project, the capabilities of Silver Spring’s intelligent charging stations installed to support Silver Spring employee EV interests, and the implications of the growing numbers of electric vehicles and the associated impact to the electric grid.

The demonstration represented the 2012 prototype Prius PHEV that plugs into a Silver Spring enabled smart grid charging station. The charging stations are pre-integrated with the Silver Spring Smart Energy Platform, the network infrastructure, software and services to support the scope of applications needed to deliver a smart grid. By connecting Smart Chargers to the smart grid, utilities and consumers can charge their electric vehicles efficiently. The integrated approach to EV charging allows utilities to capitalize on a common network infrastructure to bring multiple smart grid applications onto one unified platform.

“Effectively integrating electric vehicles is one of the great promises of the smart grid and we’re excited to be working with innovative partners including Toyota, ClipperCreek, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the Bay Area Climate Collaborative to make that promise a reality,” Lang stated.

 “I’m also glad to help increase consumer awareness through Toyota’s PHEV Demonstration Program. We believe increasing vehicle-to-grid education is of the utmost importance to consumer understanding of the smart grid,” also added Scott.

Silver Spring enables utilities to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy a broad set of smart grid initiatives. Whether a utility starts with advanced metering or distribution automation or focuses on consumers with demand response or electric vehicle projects, Silver Spring delivers the unified smart grid platform needed for these missions to succeed. The breadth and depth of the Silver Spring Smart Energy Platform, with its high level of customization, accounts for Silver Spring’s widespread adoption across a varied set of utilities world. Just in the U.S. alone, Silver Spring has deployed its smart grid platform within utilities that serve 20 percent of all US consumers.