Establishing energy communities is becoming a novel and innovative vision for Austrian communities. The association of the population and the joint use of the generated energy, primarily via the properties, can bring many benefits. Active participation in the energy transition, independence from central energy systems, and strengthening the regional value chain are clear arguments for this. In order to enable the citizens and stakeholders of the energy communities to control their energy production and consumption easily and educate and coach them, LuxActive is developing the Energy App with new user-friendly interfaces suitable for the energy communities and their citizens with many helpful notifications and statistics.
App which informs and educates its users
Within the H2020 SYNERGY project, LuxActive developed an Energy App with new smart features for the energy sector. This will enable the end-users and stakeholders of an energy community to be better informed about their energy consumption and production and to achieve their monetary and CO2 targets. The App is suitable for municipalities but also for end-users (such as private households, companies, etc.).
Typical smart home and energy apps provide users with detailed graphical statistics or user views that could be clearer. The complex energy data can be confusing for the end user; therefore, these apps cannot be practical and useful for end users. LuxActive's Energy App will work differently and will be designed so that the end user can define their monetary or ecological goals in the app. The energy app will then collect all available data and give the end user individual recommendations on achieving these goals. This app will be a personal guide that coaches and advises end-users on their energy consumption. The end-users will thus be better informed and more responsible energy consumers. In addition, the app will also provide detailed charts for professional end-users. However, the main goal remains to make energy consumption understandable for every end user and to help end users manage their energy production more intelligently.
Insights into the new Energy App from LuxActive
Individual goal setting
The end user can define a monetary or an ecological goal in the app. The goal is even defined in detail by specifying an amount of money or a quantity of CO2 that is to be saved per month/year. The app then considers the set goal, which can be changed anytime.
Goal coaching
The app provides ongoing advice and thus guides the end user in his energy consumption and production to achieve his chosen goal. The required data (e.g., contract and market prices) are manually filled in or automatically provided live via an API.
Once the goals and the necessary data are filled in, the end user receives notifications on request. These notifications are sent when a particular event occurs, such as current high energy consumption at a specific time or a recommendation to sell the produced energy.
Analysis and evaluation of the energy data
The individual data of the end user is collected and evaluated. This data is then used to generate statistics in the Energy App, which provide the end user with
an overview of their energy consumption and an indication of their energy usage behavior. For example, the end user is informed about the typical times when the self-generated energy was not used
properly. Also, the end user receives information about days and hours with production or consumption peaks via diagrams and findings. Hence, the Energy App
shows the end user when actual peak values occur. The findings are identified based on artificial intelligence. This help to put complex statistics into a simpler form.
Smart recommendations
In regular intervals, the end user receives in app a list of tasks and recommendations. These are provided with machine learning and artificial intelligence. The app aims to change the end user's behavior sustainably. The recommendations are tailored to the individual goal. The end users also see the effects of their behavior in terms of energy consumption or production in the current period.
Actual market situation
Based on current energy prices, self-consumption/self-production, and smart recommendations for selling, the consumption or saving of energy is presented to the end users as a traffic light display. In addition, the end user is informed about significant market changes with notifications. For example, the app notifies the end user at what time it would be smart to use the energy. This also includes previously made calculations of energy consumption, which tell the end user when they can mow the lawn energy-efficiently, when they should charge the car, or when it would be better to save or sell the produced energy.
Many benefits for energy communities...
Based on the available and historical data, end users can compare themselves with other users (also within an energy community). For this purpose, user profiles are created and compared using AI and machine learning technologies. End users can see how much they differ from the average and energy communities. The energy communities can see whether potential candidates fit into an energy community that new end users can expand or even establish. Thus, it is possible to see whether cooperation and grouping would be efficient at a glance. Also, municipalities can offer this as a service for their citizens.