Page 37 - CE JOURNAL FEB 2024 ISSUE 20

4. The questionable reliability, quality, coverage, speed and consistency of high-speed internet networks
5. Lack of service technicians and technical service providers – who do you call for help?
6. Low public education, lack of awareness and interest by the public.
7. Lack of technical standards, regulation and monitoring. Stronger energy, environment and ICT policies
and updated regulations are needed for the industry to grow.
8. Climate Change and Climate Departure

CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE DEPARTURE
Two of the major challenges facing Jamaica now are Climate Change accompanied by hotter temperatures
and the relatively high energy prices in the country. The two seem to act against homeowners in that they
need to use electricity to keep comfortably cool at home and this comes with a high electricity bill. I’ve been
in many forums where people have said that “JPS will win tonight as I can’t take the heat!” This means they
will spend the extra money in addition to a high energy bill just to keep cool.

This condition is likely to get worse and will drive the business case for smart homes just to help lower the
cost of energy and allow people to live comfortably in their homes.

What is Climate Departure? It's the year climate change pushes cities into an entirely different, catastrophically
hotter climate, with every subsequent year hotter than years previously recorded. This means extreme heat
will become the norm and Kingston, Jamaica is heading for this deadly new climate by around 2023. That’s
this year!

With these realities possibly on the horizon, the minister implored other Caribbean nations to acknowledge
the threat of the climate crisis and tackle it through innovative means.

The smart home is aptly positioned to participate in this challenge by becoming integrated into the energy
mix. The homeowner will benefit financially from the revenue generated from her home energy system, by
selling to or storing the excess energy from the grid, and the ability to keep her family cool virtually free!
That’s a win-win, but it requires the concepts discussed in this paper to purposefully develop the smart home
ensuring the least cost build out. Potentially, the rooftops of all the homes in Jamaica may be an extension
of the power system and this opens the door for virtual power plants (VPPs) that together when aggregated,
provides a valuable service to the utility, thus deferring investments in new generation, transmission and
distribution upgrades and utilizing the energy to meet the demand and storing the excess.

New developments must be engineered and structurally designed to dissipate heat while not compromising
safety. They must incorporate renewable energy for self-use, storage and exchange with the utility. They must
allow for convenient charging of electric vehicles. They must be fully networked and facilitate cable/fibre drops
and not require excavation or remodeling just to incorporate fundamental appliances and equipment. The
home will be an active node on the grid.

There must be some public awareness of the benefits of smart homes and support systems in place for
education and demonstration allowing Jamaicans to interact and ask questions.
Imagine being able to harness all this power into the palm of your hands!

CONCLUSION
The SMART Home is essential for Jamaica’s sustainable future and the challenge is to make it the norm and
not the exception. The new line of businesses that can emerge from this infrastructure is revolutionary and
aligns well with the aspirations of the Gen Z population that are positioning themselves with the technology to
shape our future. One such business model is the role of an aggregator. The aggregator provides a platform
where subscribers can opt in and make their self-generation and storage systems become part of a Virtual

37