With participants saving an average of 49% of their annual energy bills and reducing their carbon footprint by 14%, a ground-breaking pilot scheme, Core4Grid, conducted by geo has shown how invaluable smart meters can be in helping homeowners save money and help tackle climate change.
There were 24 ‘Hybrid Homes’ that took part in the study to see how geo’s Whole Home Optimisation solution, Core, could help facilitate the move to a flexible grid. Each home had a rooftop solar installation, energy storage device, EV charging point and EDF smart meter; and was signed up to a smart energy tariff.
How Does Whole Home Optimisation Work?
Core, with its machine-learning capabilities, analyses the data generated by the smart meter and uses this data to understand a household’s energy needs. It accesses how best to use the smart energy tariff and charges batteries by using either excess energy generated by the solar panels or grid electricity when it is at its cheapest.
Balancing The Grid
By responding to signals, Core can help balance supply and demand, by increasing the amount of electricity it draws from the grid and freeing up capacity.
Steve Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer at geo said:
The Core4Grid trial is the clearest proof to date of the immense potential of Great Britain’s smart meter rollout to homes across the country. Whole Home Optimisation is driven by real-time smart meter data, allowing us to predict and balance individual household energy usage to save consumers far more than UK Government had initially estimated for the rollout.
This moves theory into practice and clearly shows how households can actively – and automatically – reduce their carbon footprint, reduce their bills and at the same time, play a critical part in the drive towards net zero.
Energy Minister, Lord Callanan said:
Millions of households are already benefiting from smart meters that are putting them in charge of their energy use and cutting their bills.
Now, thanks to almost £1 million of government funding, the Core4Grid trial is showing how smart meters can link to other innovative technologies to further drive down costs for homeowners and help tackle climate change by effectively managing their energy needs.
Flexi-Orb Managing Director, David Lindsay commented:
The results from the Core4Grid trial are truly remarkable. It is evident that in order to meet our net-zero goal we need a flexible and interoperable grid and this can be achieved using Whole Home Optimisation.
The Core4Grid scheme, which ran for 24 months and concluded in February 2021, was funded by BEIS’ Energy Innovation Programme and included partners Everoze, EDF, The Housing Association’s Charitable Trust (HACT), Cambridge Energy, Upside and UK Power Networks.
Image credit geo
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