Your home as a VPP

This is a great article that highlights the growing opportunities that home-owners have for greater freedom with their home energy. As smart, clean technologies enter the market, the possibility for homes to become “small-scale virtual power plants (VPPs)” is very exciting!

Energy Storage is at the forefront of this! 

Solar PV installations have been around for decades now, but for many in the UK, the intermittent weather conditions have meant home-owners have still relied on grid-power in “down periods” and have faced difficulties when trying to balance their peak usage with cheaper electricity periods. Well, now, with the emergence of home battery storage, home-owners can store cheaper solar-generated electricity for when they need it most, removing the need for grid “top-ups" Add into the mix smart, clean heating systems and EV charging, and you soon have an “eco-system” of devices that can all sync up.

The article features MyEnergi (a Hyperion client and long-time friends) who are pioneering this transition in the UK and their eco-home offerings, give home-owners the opportunity to manage and monitor all of their interconnected devices, from one smart app, giving homeowners so much more power!

Imagine being able to self-generate the energy you and your family needs, near enough completely “off-grid” - not only saving you money, but opening up chances to generate revenues (especially when you consider future innovations like V2G)!

Despite the benefits on offer, there are still challenges when it comes to adoption, certainly when you compare the UK with other European countries. A lot of this comes down to the upfront costs associated with clean energy home improvements, particularly when there are rising costs across all other areas of life right now. 

The VAT cuts for Battery Storage and Power Conversion equipment in February, will be a big step forward and will reduce costs for consumers, but a lot more is needed when it comes to subsidies / interest free loans on technology upgrades. Equally, if not more important, is the need for greater education of the benefits of such technology. Its OK for those of us working in energy and cleantech, but for the wider population, there is still a lot of FUD that will hinder the adoption to these new technologies.

What do you want to see happen to increase the transition to these new technologies?

I lead the Energy Storage practice at Hyperion Executive Search, and we partner with many battery and ESS technology providers to hire great talent across Europe.