The Core4Grid project, led by Green Energy Options of Cambridge [1] (GEO) is proving market viability and customer acceptance of GEO’s future flexible grid.

Working with industry partners, GEO are leading a Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) funded consortium that’s enabling domestic demand-side-response through our Hybrid Home™ in 24 UK homes.

The ‘Core’ device is fitted in houses already equipped with solar panels and electric vehicle chargers, and has added smart meters and batteries to complete the set of modern energy technology.

The system responds to signals to balance supply and demand, helping to free up capacity on the electricity network. Taking a market-led approach, Core decides how and when each home should use its energy, depending on software signals from trial partners Upside Energy. The Core4Grid project is also trialing ways to use the in-home devices to free up more capacity on the network in a service known as Demand Side Response (DSR).

Ian Cameron, head of customer service and innovation at UK Power Networks, said: “We are incredibly excited by further developing Demand Side Response because it’s a win for customers, a win for the environment, and a win for the network.”

In March 2020, participating homes saved money by sourcing more than half of the energy they used from their rooftop solar panels or batteries previously charged overnight when energy is much cheaper.

In the first three months of the trial, total energy savings in the Core trial amounted to enough energy to boil a kettle for 88,000 cups of tea (3,000kWh).

About GEO

Founded in 2006, GEO is an award-winning internet of energy company based near Cambridge. They make a series of products from connected energy displays up to integrated home management systems that connect all of a household’s utilities to give complete control and increasingly, make automated, smart decisions to optimise usage efficiency. GEO is the leading supplier of in-home displays to the UK Smart Metering programme with around 55% (almost 6 million units) deployed to date. Their aim is to create a sustainable future where every household is able to manage its overall consumption and carbon footprint, without even having to think about it and with over 20 prize awards to their name, including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation.

References

[1] Green Energy Options website: https://www.geotogether.com/

Core4Grid: https://www.geotogether.com/core4grid/