Other Examples

As part of the investigation, the Energy Local case study is explored to show how developing smart technology is being tested.

Carbon Co-Op

Carbon Co-Op: Open DSR

Figure 1: OpenDSR charging an electric vehicle

Carbon Co-op is an energy services and advocacy co-operative that was started in 2008 in a response to increasing concerns about climate change (Carbon Co-Op, 2020). The company is based in Greater Manchester and is a pioneer of the smart technology industry. Their focus is to deliver a service where customers can transform their old properties into futuristic smart, efficient, and low-carbon homes using only the best research and developing technologies.

As pioneers in the industry Carbon Co-Op are always innovating and testing out new technology. For example, in 2019 they launched an ‘OpenDSR’ project that was supported by the UK government (Carbon Co-op, 2019). The project aims to develop a system for automated demand side response using open-source technology to control:

EV Chargers
Electric Heating Systems
Smart Appliances

By installing the mentioned appliances, the company can incentivise their customers to support the grid and consume electricity at times of low demand. The project also is supporting the development of a new technology, a Power Shaper. The Power Shaper is very similar to the Demand Shaper module on Emoncms and allows automated control of the appliances in customers' homes to both balance the grid and save customers money. The current OpenDSR project is still in development although a feasibility study has been done by Carbon Co-Op that highlights potential advantages such as cost benefits, waste reduction and synthesis with other services and products. The full study can be downloaded directly here.

As industry experts they claim to know how to “make radical reductions in household energy usage of up to 80%” (Carbon Co-Op, 2013) and thrive off helping their customers achieve such savings. All buildings are unique and Carbon Co-Op recognise this and offer a whole house assessment where losses and areas of improvements are identified. Following on from the detailed investigation, recommendations will be made to customers for potential savings such as improvements in wall insulation or the addition of solar panels.

Carbon Co-op acknowledges that home improvements can have high start-up costs and some customers may want to upgrade their homes and reduce their carbon footprint even if they cannot quite afford the cost all upfront. Therefore, the company proposes the option of paying back the cost after installation where savings are being made. By doing this, customers can still reduce bills slightly whilst paying for the installation.

Energy Local

Figure 2: Energy local dashboard

(Source: EnergyLocal.co.uk)

Energy local is a developing project that is changing the electricity market for communities by aiming to “help communities get more value from small scale renewable generation by using the electricity locally” (Energy Local, 2021).

Located in the North of Wales the project has roughly 100 participating houses that are linked to a nearby100kW hydro generator (Lea, 2017). Through the Open Energy Monitor dashboard, shown in Figure 2, customers can see how much energy from hydro is being locally generated compared to the demand of the local community.

The dashboard will signal if it is a good time to use electricity based. Energy Local uses the Octopus Agile tariff that offers half hourly prices to customers reflecting if there is sufficient local generation. Since community is the focus of the project all participating houses receive equal share of the generated electricity where any excess needed is bought from the grid at slightly higher prices. Additionally, the project provides day ahead forecasting to give the customers the best opportunity to use the locally generated electricity.

Giving the customers freedom to manage their own consumption based off available information has proved to be effective in the local community trial. In a survey completed by the participating residents showed an average saving of 24% with a minimum saving of 19% (Energy Local, 2017) on their energy bills.