GRIDPOCKET CORE TECHNOLOGIES

GridPocket state-of-the-art technology platform PowerVAS is designed around some core competences mastered by the GridPocket team through many years of research and project deployment.

PowerVas

BIG DATA

The deployment of smart meters in Europe and worldwide means appearance of unstructured energy data, that need to be stored, integrated, retrieved and analysed for which original high performance computer systems and algorithms must be designed and evaluated. The energy data collected by metering infrastructure represents the biggest volume of smart grid energy-related data. In the domain of big data, it is a big challenge to store and manage these large volumes of data. In general data are cheap, but the value-added information extracted from data is an article necessary to process and store. Big data architectures help to let machines understand and unveil the hidden association laws between data terms. Normally to assure this process, we store and manage large-scale structured or unstructured data in NoSQL databases, process in HDFS architecture or use cluster storage management.

BigData-shematics 

 

IoT AND SMART HOME

The foundation of our PowerVAS platform lies on a machine-to-machine (M2M) and communication layer. All known connected devices with their specific protocol can be accessed and controlled easily with our platform.

The highly scalable architecture of PowerVAS™ supports millions of interconnected smart home and city devices to collect and store energy data in a NoSQL database for easy access by different platform modules. Secure connections and data collections are protected by a service capability layer module, which manages the application layer access to the platform by checking authorization rights. The gateway service capability interacts with end-devices to control them and transfer action requests.

 

 

BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

We use an individual approach, that is based on a customer’s segmentation. We consider that everyone has their own motivation factors, such having fun, learning or collecting reward points. Firstly, our objective is to challenge people to achieve their objectives by following these specific motivation factors. Secondly, the efficiency indicators value the efforts of individual clients. Finally, this green nudge approach motivates energy consumers in his energy efficiency efforts and strengthens its loyalty to his energy supplier. This is based on win-win benefits, proposed to both energy consumer and energy utility. Our architecture can determine important socio-economic factors, that are important for consumption profiles definition and individual motivation approach.

gamification


The positive reinforcement tool that we have developed – EcoTroks™, is not just a customer engagement tool in the basic way, but it turns the energy consumer into the prosumer. It means that EcoTroks™ remunerates clients for their energy efficient actions, that lead to the improvement of a demand side management. This can be used for important industrial clients, public institutions or individual customers.

EcoTroks is a behavioural energy efficiency application for energy utilities to strengthen their client's loyalty, enhance their customer relationship management and optimize energy consumption patterns. EcoTroks™ program represents an online guide for energy consumers. It successfully engages customers by proposing its value-added functionalities based on behavioural theories, which improves Smart Grids stability and performance. EcoTroks™ motivate people to reduce energy consumption and shift consumption to non-peak hours by proposing them challenges, consumption visualization and contact with their Eco communities. The program proposes an advantageous approach for every innovative utility.

An energy efficiency module is developed to provide insight into customers’ household consumption to encourage energy efficient behaviour, in turn resulting in reduced consumption. The application proposes value-added services as a client-oriented complement to monitoring and analysis elements of energy efficiency. It encourages consumers to contribute to utility’s energy grid performance. The solution is used in a variety of households, schools and other building types.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

This PowerVAS platform is extended by GridPocket and third-party applications for data analysis, open data services, electric vehicle charging, renewable energy production and demand response control.
The key functionality of the demand response energy management solution is based on the real-time optimisation of the local energy production, consumption and storage. The optimisation can be adjusted to maximise economic profit or to minimise CO2 emissions according to user requirements. The solution is and can adapt to fluctuations in the energy demand or production, subject to dynamic price tariffs and changing weather conditions.

EV CHARGING

The market for Electric Vehicles is growing at an unprecedented rate. Car makers are expanding the production of electric vehicles to meet the rising demand.
EV models are becoming more affordable by the day, which in turn fuels the adoption even further.
The charging infrastructure has been growing along. How will the shift to electric vehicles impact the grid? Are the utility companies prepared to accommodate the extra load? What will happen to peak demand?
The generalisation of electric cars in our environment will create the need for an EV smart charging application for electric grid stability maintenance:
EVCCA™

 
Charging station
 
It allows an intelligent distribution of charging process on different charging stations to assure the charging of present vehicles and to foresee the arrival of new electric vehicles in respect to the actual electric grid. As the solution improves electricity grid stability, it analyses the smart grid collection point, the maximum subscribed power and other factors. Additionally, as the presence of renewable energies has a strong impact on smart grid stability, it enables the encouragement process to the EV drivers by proposing benefits during the period for charging when renewable electricity production is high.
EVCCA™ assures the better charging service to EV drivers and promotes service in the non-peak hours, what lowers the energy price for energy sourcing manager. In integration with third-party mobility systems, EVCCA™ informs EV about a charging possibility and can alert client about charging time available. EVCCA™ is flexible energy manager for electric vehicle charging stations enabling to overcome electricity grid stability limitations, that charging services must deal with. It enables the implementation of charging stations in busy down-town areas, public buildings and remote rural zones.