Get smart: A look at the benefits of combining renewables and smart technologies

No longer just for the techies amongst us, smart technology has truly integrated into so many aspects of our life in recent years.

From lighting, temperature control to vacuum cleaners and blinds, the list of once inanimate objects, has joined the smart revolution. Artificial intelligence and machine learning enhance so many aspects of our daily lives. No longer for just the rich and famous or gadget lovers too, smart technology is now for the masses, and for good reason.

There are so many benefits of getting smart technology in your home or business it’s difficult to know where to start.

Smaller businesses are now able to benefit from the many advantages that historically have only been available to much larger organisations. Cloud based tech, security systems and data analytics have centralised processes, making day to day reporting, systems and data evaluation more efficient, whilst saving man hours and money.

Smart grid technology can also make a difference to the effective management and distribution of so many renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydrogen.

Home automation that was once a gimmick, is no more. Technology that can help monitor, clean, heat and light your home. These automations save money and are so beneficial for those with busy lives, kids and that’s not forgetting the more vulnerable. This is where smart tech can dramatically improve a person’s independence.

What about renewables?

So many of us waste energy and with the recent hikes in electricity bills, it’s a huge cost that we all need to address. But investment in renewables, alongside grants, incentives and lowering costs of technology has made clean energy increasingly affordable, offering potentially huge costs savings for many, making it an investment we can’t afford to miss out on.

What about the home? Smart tech helps us in so many ways but to truly see major changes in energy bills, we need to look at how renewables and smart tech can combine. And when they do it well, it is a truly marvellous thing.

However, to get the most out of renewables, we need to be smart.

Solar PV and battery energy storage are becoming more and more popular as advancements in technology making them more efficient, flexible, and durable.

Whilst solar has already become a major player in the market, battery storage is following in its footsteps and with so many brands offering differing solutions, what is the smart choice?

Going smart

Smart batteries are effectively solar battery systems with software that utilises lower tariffs and excess solar to further decrease the power dependence of the energy grid.

When we think about normal batteries and understand that they use excess solar to charge the batteries, and discharge power from the batteries when there is not enough power provided by the PV system.

However, outside of this solar self-consumption model, they are very limited additional benefits for the majority of end users. This leads to longer paybacks sometimes outside of the acceptable limit for the end user.

This is where smart batteries come in. They are available whenever there is a smart software solution and can provide these additional benefits for the battery system. These software solutions are available for domestic all the way up through large scale industrial applications.

The future

We are all so used to hearing that things are ‘smart’ these days. But what’s next? Evolution has taken us one step further with the revolutionary smart software developed by Coridiyan, called Qendercore. This innovation takes smart technology even further.

Developed by some of best software brains in the business, Qendercore is intelligent software that takes away the frustration of energy management and increases energy bill savings. Whilst it sounds simple enough, combining this clever software with your solar PV and battery storage system is unlike anything on the market. It creates an entirely unique home energy management system, which is worth talking about.

Available for commercial and domestic applications, smart batteries have many benefits, making them an even more viable solution in the efforts to save energy and money.

There are many benefits that this software can provide, including charging the batteries when energy spot prices are at their lowest and discharging these batteries when the energy spot prices are at their highest.

Additionally, the software can turn on appliances during the day when there is excess solar to prevent using all your battery power when these appliances would normally be manually turned on in the evening, and assist grid frequency and voltage through charging or discharging a smart battery network.

Behind the meter power sharing in local communities.

Efficiency

Unlike other “Smart Devices”, Qendercore technology intelligently communicates and utilises excess solar energy to power your home. It will determine when there is excess solar and turn on appliances in your home based on the profiles you create.

In conjunction with your battery system, the smart energy system will determine when there is excess solar and will then start turning on appliances in your home based on the parameters set by the homeowner.

Imagine that you’ve been at work all day. It’s been a sunny day and your solar PV system has been generating and your battery full. You’re aware of how much excess solar is being sent back to the grid or wasted but as you can’t utilise it, it’s gone back to grid, right?

Typically, you arrive home, crank the heating or air conditioner on full, or turn on your pool pump. Not only are you most likely using energy at peak time, but it also won’t take too long to deplete your battery and then you’re using power from the grid at a ‘peak’ cost. All that wasted solar….

However, with smart software you can utilise the excess solar by utilising the profiles to automatically turn on your smart devices, cooling your home during the day or turning on that pool pump. By managing these devices through the day, or when you aren’t at home, you can dramatically lessen the amount of power you need to cool or heat your home later in the day. It’s smart thinking with smart software.

You’ll benefit your pocket and your home as you’ll require less power from the utilities in the evening when the energy prices are typically at their peak.

By setting profiles and behaviours, you can automatically schedule for maximum cost efficiency. Your home can be automatically heated or cooled when power is cheaper (e.g. during the day if solar power generation is strong rather than feeding back to the grid).

This revolutionary software takes smart home management to the next level with the integration of your solar energy and battery storage. This gives the user the ability to control electricity usage via a web interface or mobile app and control how power is flowing between your devices and the grid.

Think of how smart software and batteries can benefit a larger audience through a VPP or community shared power for example. This also benefits grid stabilisation, as you are no longer sending excess solar to the grid at times they don’t want or can’t cope with. The aging power infrastructure of most countries simply can’t deal effectively with the influx of excess solar in off-peak times.

When combined with your smart devices, smart software will assign excess solar to the devices requiring energy so that you have better control over power usage in your home, fully utilising all that free daytime electricity that would normally go straight back to the grid.

Smart home devices such as heating, water, lighting, air conditioning, pool pumps and electric vehicle chargers can all benefit from smart software, as you can set key activities or them, such as automatically scheduling for maximum cost efficiency.

This means that when you are not home during the day, you can run your appliances so that when you get home at night, you won’t need to use the power from the utilities to do so.

Changing how you think about energy

A software solution allowing for intelligent management and use of excess solar energy. In short, it will change the way you think about energy forever.

The software monitors energy consumption for each appliance and can help educate each homeowner on their power usage, and where simple adjustments can make the most difference to your bills and ultimately your wallet.

By understanding where and how we use power, you could make adjustments that can save hundreds or even thousands of pounds when utilised well.

Within the renewable arena, smart batteries are the future for homes and businesses. They make solar plus storage a much more viable option, decreasing payback and increasing savings, giving domestic energy storage a real push into mainstream living.

From smart speakers to washing machines, lighting and of course batteries, smart technology is here to stay, and the variation of applications are limitless. Time to get on board and get smart.