Two ‘smart energy’ companies have warned that the lack of a standard language for smart home energy devices will limit the number of green energy technologies that can be used and raise energy system costs – by some estimates up to £12 billion annually.
Smart energy specialist Geo and heating manufacturer Vaillant say that if heat pumps, EV chargers and household appliances operate flexibly they can match their demand to grid capacity and use power when it cheapest and greenest. That allows for rapid up-take of heating and transport electrification without the need for slow, expensive grid reinforcement. But this requires an agreed set of standards.
In a new white paper, the two companies call for stakeholders including DNOs, energy retailers, smart service providers and manufacturers to develop mass-market standards that can be adopted in GB and international markets. They propose that industry adopts a new smart home energy standard from a set of existing protocols (EEBUS, Matter and OCPP) with a flexible architecture supporting EV chargers (and ‘vehicle to grid’), heat pumps, solar PV, battery storage and white goods.
The paper concludes that coupling heat pumps with storage shifts the heat pump demand out of peak times.
Steve Cunningham, chief executive officer of Geo said: “… we need common standards across the sorts of smart appliances which are increasingly becoming part of the modern home. That is why we are calling for a cross industry consortium to establish common standards to make a more
flexible grid a reality: we cannot allow a lack of industry coordination cost British consumers £12 billion a year.”
“It is crucial for heat pumps to provide a degree of demand side response. Our joint paper with Geo sets out some recommendations for both Government and the industry to explore in more detail.”, said Mark Wilkins, Director of Technologies, and Training
Read the white paper here