The power of one: solar and battery power is your first step to a greener future
This article is brought to you by Evergen Energy.
Around the world, the global pandemic taught us many things and changed the way a lot of us went about our lives. We learnt that we are resilient and adaptive. We can work from home without companies crashing, we’ve put a greater focus on work-life balance, and decided that we want to become more self-sufficient.
Taking control of our lives became more important – we saw trends like ‘homesteading’ launch, planted herb and veggie gardens and fruit trees, bought beehives to produce our own honey and invested in chickens so we would have our own eggs. While we were focused on our home lives, many of us invested in rooftop solar, capitalising on government subsidies and taking that first step towards a greener future with renewable energy.
Creating a greener home
Once you start enjoying the benefits of solar energy, you might want to go one step further and install a battery so you can work towards energy independence.
Battery storage is quickly gaining popularity in Australian homes with over 140,000 residential storage solutions installed since 2016. Used in conjunction with solar panels, batteries allow for generated energy to be stored during low-use times and then released at peak demand periods – energy for you to use when the sun is not shining or sell back to the grid.
Optimising your investment
The software around solar and battery systems has evolved in ways that optimise a homeowners investment. Take Evergen’s Intelligent Control (IC) software for example. It takes energy machine learning to the next level. IC can analyse weather forecasts, your tariff structure, state of charge, solar generation, energy loads and 36 other data sets to optimise how energy is stored and used in your home. It constantly monitors your home’s energy profile to make sure that you are using the cheapest (and greenest) form of electricity. The software continues to monitor how you use your electricity over time to ensure it is always consuming the cheapest form of electricity.
With IC you can be self-sufficient and gain greater control of your solar and battery system. You can track solar, battery and grid energy consumption at any point in the day – all without the need for additional hardware as Evergen platform allows connection and optimisation of sites through cloud APIs. Evergen’s software is not just used for consumers, it is also now being used to control and monitor utility scale solar farms, large batteries in shopping centres, and green hydrogen plants for long duration storage.
When it comes to savings, systems being optimised by Evergen means that customers save on average, an additional 26.4 per cent off their electricity bill. Homeowners can also sell excess energy stored on their battery back to the grid and when enrolling to an eligible Virtual Power Plant (VPP). A VPP is where your battery supports other homes with clean energy during times of high demand, and you are incentivised for participation.
More and more, homeowners are looking for a sustainable and secure energy supply. In fact, the number of systems (solar and batteries) that Evergen optimises through its platform abates 182,992 tonnes of C02 per year, and this is growing by the day.
The bigger picture
A great example of community change is Carseldine Village, a Queensland Government project in Greater Brisbane where home energy systems (HEMS) are being optimised by Evergen. The aim of Carseldine is create a sustainable community and deliver energy efficient, net zero energy emission and climate-resilient terrace homes rated Greenstar 5 Certified.
HEMS are becoming more mainstream with developers providing integrated solutions that range from lighting and blind control through to smart appliances, right from the planning stage. Homeowners with new builds are also going down this track, with smart house technology able to control things like blinds and lights, TVs, sound systems, air conditioning – even opening front doors. Homeowners in existing homes are also making better choices when an appliance needs replacing, by choosing more energy efficient items.
Energy efficient homes are in high demand as homeowners consider the most cost-efficient energy sources – solar power by far is the most cost-efficient. This not only reduces the cost burden for households but also contributes to improving our quality of life and the planet.
We are all in a position to reset and re-emerge from this pandemic with a renewed set of values and focus on more ‘conscious’ behaviour and choices. Investing in green, renewable energy solutions is a way to keep tackling our climate change crisis, create more self-reliance and stability, whilst saving money at the same time.
This article was brought to you by Evergen Energy.
Evergen Energy’s purpose is to enable smarter energy and accelerate the global transition to renewable. Find out more: evergen.energy
