| Project Detail |
The Project will develop a Smart Energy Tool (the Tool) to provide households with an assessment of their Smart Energy options. Software will also be developed to provide active control of 1,000 ‘smart hot water’ systems. Need While some Smart Energy, such as rooftop solar, are already economic and popular, the uptake of other Smart Energy devices such as controlled smart hot water, batteries and Electric Vehicles (EVs) is being hampered due to customer confusion, knowledge gaps and uncertain financial returns. It is currently not possible for a homeowner to determine which combination of Smart Energy options is best for their specific energy needs. This is constraining the uptake of other Smart Energy options like batteries and heat pumps. Action The project will develop a free, online Smart Energy Tool which will provide residential customers with an economic assessment of their Smart Energy options. This includes comparing the financial and energy independence benefits of each of the following rooftop solar, batteries, heat pumps, and EV smart chargers. This project will also develop software integration to support the active control of 1,000 ‘smart hot water’ systems. The Tool will be available to customers at no cost and will analyse their energy usage, available tariffs and market data to: demonstrate the commercial benefits (return on investment) of adding dynamic control to new and existing solar PV systems; recommend investment decisions (smart hot water, heat pumps and batteries) and tariff options; and connect customers with potential contractors for quotes and installation of recommended devices. Software will also be developed to control hot water and optimise the use of these devices based on available retail tariffs and the customer’s solar generation profile. Software integration with Solar Thermal Australia (STA) will enable active control of STA’s smart hot water heat pump systems without the need for additional hardware or an additional site visit. Outcome The project will: 1. Increase the value delivered by renewable energy by: increasing the uptake of flexible Smart Energy within the residential market; developing systems to integrate with STA heat pumps and optimise its operation; and educating consumers about the benefits of heat pumps (instead of gas how water). 2. Reduce or remove barriers to renewable energy uptake through the delivery of a free, publicly available consumer smart energy tool that enables solar consumers to find the optimal smart energy solution. 3. Increase skills, capacity and knowledge relevant to Renewable Energy Technologies by providing solar and smart energy owners with a sophisticated and independent software portal that demonstrates the savings achieved from their smart hot water. |
