Our development for energy communities reaches a milestone

Under the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive, adopted in 2016, energy communities have the right to use and sell energy from renewable sources alongside production. Our solution enables energy communities to measure production and consumption in real-time using smart devices.

As well as being able to sell surplus energy, energy communities are an effective way of tackling energy deprivation, as they aim to make energy available to socially disadvantaged households with renewable sources (e.g. solar, biomass, wind). By 2050, the EU estimates that 37% of energy production on the European continent can be realised from energy communities; therefore, providing them a ready-to-use platform is vital.

Grape Solutions' Ederena platform enables real-time communication and data collection for energy community members (households, companies, municipalities) using smart devices (smart meter, solar panel unit). Ederena uses two Grape Solutions developments simultaneously, the IoT Platform and the Meteo solution, enabling Machine Learning to determine the expected production and consumption of the system.

The solution developed for the energy communities consists of two interfaces: a view for customers, where they are informed about the performance of their assets and can settle their debts with credit cards through an integrated online payment system; thus, an admin and control interface for service providers, where they have a wide range of functions from remote management of assets to contract clients.

With the solution developed by Grape Solutions, energy communities can manage their smart devices and monitor and optimise their energy consumption through a modern and user-friendly platform, thus, contributing to environmentally conscious energy consumption. This year, the solution has been updated with a learning algorithm that understands the consumption habits of the community, ensuring optimal operation and long lifetime of the energy storage. The platform is extended with features such as automatic indication of equipment failures using IoT solutions, setting automated alarms, or generating reports of production and consumption.

The first major milestone in the development of the solution for energy communities is set to reach in May, providing the right basis for implementing specific needs of operators, developing additional features and integrations into the system, such as electronic contracting with digital signature, or adding Montu, Grape Solutions' electric car charging solution.