When the simple becomes complicated from the consumer's point of view, reverse engineering must be applied to make it simple again. This is the case for homeowners of PV systems looking for solutions to Home Energy Management Systems, especially in Europe.
Nowadays, the number of variables that directly affect their profitability makes it difficult to monitor the cost savings at the end of the month.
Think of them in the same house: PV system, house battery, EV charger, heat pump, weather forecast, fixed and/or flexible electricity tariffs, pool pump, home automation, IoT devices, HVAC...
There has been a race among manufacturers to provide the best home energy management solution that is simple to operate, affordable and clear about the savings achieved. Big companies and startups have been competiu for this potential market:
In my opinion, there are already some very interesting solutions, but they are still a long way from achieving widespread market potential.
And perhaps more important than the product itself is the business model for marketing it. Reaching this milestone is a major step forward in establishing a sustainable DER (Distrubuted Energy Resources) in the long term.
In practice, for the users, doesn't matter the system for managing their energy production and consuption as long as they get a reduction in the bills at the end of the month.
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