Project ERIC learnings summary document Introduction This document sets out a high-level summary of the key learnings from Project ERIC. Additional detail can be found in the appended community facing evaluation leaflet prepared by Oxford Brookes University. Further information on the results from ERIC can be found on the project website and Moixa s website. About ERIC Project ERIC (Energy Resources for Integrated Communities) is one of the largest domestic electricity storage projects trialed in the UK. ERIC launched in January 215 to demonstrate how smart battery storage technology could help a community in Rose Hill, East Oxford, get more direct benefit from solar PV and reduce their impact on the local electricity network, ultimately making it possible to install more renewable power generation locally. Through ERIC, Moixa installed 89 2kWh Moixa Smart Battery systems across 82 households, a primary school and the new Rose Hill Community Centre. The batteries are connected to the solar PV and internet in each building, laying the infrastructure for a virtual localised electricity grid. Moixa developed new software to maximise the amount of solar generation which could be used locally by the community. ERIC was part-funded by Innovate UK and represented over 1.2m investment in Rose Hill 215-17. The 33- month research project was led by Moixa Technology, involving partners Bioregional, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford City Council, Re-Energise, Scottish & Southern Energy Networks and British Gas. Project ERIC set out to achieve three key aims, (i) to increase local consumption of solar PV within a community (ii) to reduce the peak demand & peak export in a community (iii) to increase households control over the energy they use Project scope ERIC took place in Rose Hill, an estate in East Oxford. Rose Hill is home to 3,4 residents in 1,2 households. Rose Hill is a diverse community with nearly half its resident s non-white British, including a large South Asian population. Rose Hill is in the 1% most deprived areas in England, with high numbers of children and elderly living below the poverty line. 82 households took part in ERIC, involving 163 residents. Of these, 49 homes were owned by Oxford City Council, 28 owned by the social landlord, GreenSquare Group and seven households were privately owned. A range of house types were included: 7 houses (terraced, semi-detached and detached), eight flats and four bungalows. Average electricity use across the group was 9kWh/day compared with the national average of 11kWh/day. This ranged significantly from less than 5kWh/day to almost 25kWh per day and was not directly related to occupancy patterns or the number of inhabitants.
Summary of key learnings from the project with a focus on social housing participants Learning from recruitment of households Allow time: minimum 3-6months, ideally 6-9 months working closely with trusted partners Understand the needs of each resident: these often vary significantly in social housing Expectation management: is critical to avoid disappointment or issues later on. Fairness is a key criteria for social landlords ensure the same offer across a group Resident suitability: baseline energy audits are essential to ensure the resident is well suited to battery storage House suitability: building types and issues such as asbestos and roof maintenance schedules need to be factored into the selection and work plan The ideal household: is one which has medium-high electricity consumption with a peak in usage in the morning and evening. Ideally the household would use little power during the daytime Learning from install Rapid install: a 2-3hour install of the Moixa Smart Battery is feasible Compact size: The system can fit in a hall cupboard, but ventilation must be factored in Trade Coordination: Simultaneous PV and battery installation helps limit additional visits to the home to decrease resident disruption. Installer experience: adequate training & experience raises standards, reduces return visits & increases customer satisfaction Data Communications: connectivity remains a challenge & should not be underestimated, particularly with vulnerable & elderly tenants who are typically less likely to have an internet connection Learning from engagement Tailor language to suit the audience: ensure the messaging is relevant to the householder, using easy to understand language Do not rely on online: mail, local news print & phone are often the most reliable channels Work with the social landlord: utilising energy engagement officers where available Working with existing groups is key: Eg, community energy groups and tenant groups Engagement takes time: plan in time for the unexpected Technology enables engagement: technology provides better information and enables engagement, increasing understanding and in some cases, altering attitudes and behaviours amongst residents Learning from interviews & perceptions ERIC community concerns: include climate change, energy security & rising energy prices Noise: when located in a living space the battery is often found to be noisy Battery location: ensure sufficient access, cupboards and storage areas are best to buffer noise Performance and savings: the relationship was often unclear to residents as participants had different suppliers and billing arrangements, despite most homes making svaings Learning from the results Electricity usage varies widely making a strong case for community scale energy management Solar PV systems have performed well
generating on average 5.5-6kWh/day in the summer; 51% self-consumption before storage Batteries are making some contribution increasing self-consumption of PV electricity by an average 5.8% Battery performance varies widely depending on household electricity characteristics, hampered if there is: o Low baseload in low consuming households o Little surplus PV electricity available to store in high consuming households Batteries contributed up to 1.5% of the household s electricity use, with an average of 3.4% across whole fleet including deselected households. Annual bill cost savings from batteries range from.63 to 45.52 with an average of 15.14. Easy to understand feedback showing the performance of storage will help householders to optimise their behaviours, in order to improve energy and bill savings Peak grid electricity demand is reduced by 8% by the batteries on average. Tests were conducted during the heating season Effective planning for dispatch of stored electricity is essential to optimise the reduction in peak demand on the grid Cost-benefit: was undertaken at the end of the project and households saving less than 2% of electricity consumption through storage had their batteries removed Learning from modelling Local energy tariff: avoided grid costs for energy used locally was calculated to be 2.5p/kWh, by avoiding network and distribution costs Reaching 1% self-consumption can be achieved when only 5% of households in a community have solar PV. This was found to be the optimum for sharing local generation across a community With a local import/export tariff of 8p & 6p /kwh a saving 46 pa is achieved Future opportunities There is an emerging opportunity to explore the sharing & trading of local distributed renewable electricity within a community. By including households who do not have batteries, solar panels or other forms of renewable generation within a group, the level of self-consumption can be increased relative to a typical individual household, or group of households, with solar PV and battery storage installed on every home. This would help improve the business case and economics of both solar PV and battery storage. Aggregating & controlling domestic storage in clusters would provide additional benefit in the form of increased self-consumption and dispatchable stored energy for grid services. A platform and model that enabled the summing and sharing of local energy would enable a group to harness revenue streams through utility services, which the project team identified as an area of future and ongoing research. Batteries would add value to a local energy sharing or trading scheme, however this might be considered a secondary or tertiary step once a local club had been established to realise the value in first bringing together households with PV and households without PV.
About the partners MOIXA TECHNOLOGY Moixa was the overall project lead and technical partner for Project ERIC. Moixa Technology is the designer and manufacturer of the Moixa Smart Battery and through ERIC Moixa enhanced their innovative energy management platform that enabled the virtual localised grid. BIOREGIONAL Environmental sustainability charity Bioregional has led with Moixa in the design and conception of ERIC. Within the project Bioregional led the community engagement, communications and evaluating the environmental case. OXFORD CITY COUNCIL OCC has provided extensive support to ERIC in the form of on site project management, resident engagement and a capital investment which has enabled the installation of solar PV and battery in 49 council properties plus eight batteries in the new Rose Hill Community Centre. OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY Oxford Brookes Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD) led the assessment of the experience of residents and the impacts of the technology on households' energy bills and energy behaviours, by providing independent monitoring and evaluation of results. SCOTTISH & SOUTHERN ENERGY NETWORKS (SSEN) SSEN is the District Network Operator (DNO) in the Rose Hill and therefore own and manage the electricity grid. SSEN offer energy industry experience and provide support and insight into industry constraints and standards, as well as the effects distributed generation and storage can have on Low Voltage (LV) Networks. BRITISH GAS British Gas (BG) offered energy industry experience and commercial direction. Through a series of workshops BG will worked with the project team in an advisory role to develop a community energy rebate - a tariff that could give a discount for energy produced in the community. REENERGISE ReEnergise supported the development of a community energy tariff in ERIC, to facilitate the commercial exploitation and development of viable grid services. ReEnergise finances and project manages energy efficiency measures in domestic and commercial properties.
What is Project ERIC? Project ERIC (Energy Resources for Integrated Communities) is one of the largest domestic electricty storage projects trialled in the UK. Oxford It was designed to increase the proportion of solar electricity that is used locally in a community, to reduce peak loads on the local electricity grid and give residents more control over the energy they use. The project is a new initiative bringing solar PV and smart battery storage to target of 82 homes in Rose Hill community in Oxford. Project ERIC funded under the Innovate UK Localised Energy Systems scheme, has been testing the creation of a virtual local energy grid. It used Moixa Technology s Smart Battery and powergenerating solar PV panels across both social and private homes in Rose Hill, Oxford. The project also installed batteries at the new community centre, a charging point and an electric car club vehicle supplied by Co-Wheels. Oxford, Rose Hill community ERIC households The project run from January 215 to September 217 (33 months). Aim ERIC investigated how innovative domestic energy storage technology can help a community to save energy. The project aimed to demonstrate how management of distributed storage in a community can: Increase self-consumption of solar PV generated electricity Reduce average peak grid electricity load Give householders more control over the electricity they use ENERGY AWARD 216 WINNER Residential Energy Project of the Year. HIGHLY COMMENDED Innovation Energy Project of the Year Solar PV + Maslow battery Rationale for project ERIC To shift towards a low carbon economy where the legally binding 25 carbon emission reduction targets can be achieved, an energy system consisting of decentralised renewable energy sources and decarbonised power systems in will play an important role in the energy industry. Solar PV electricity generation increased by 87% in 215, however on their own they provide little resilience given the mismatch between PV electricity generation and consumption. Energy storage capabilities provide physical means to achieve flexibility, as they is are able to balance energy demand and supply, and respond to sudden changes in conventional energy supply. Domestic battery storage technologies have smaller storage capacity and very low discharge time (milliseconds). However, large scale deployment is limited. Grid battery Community project battery Rose Hill community 2kWh Maslow batteries have been installed across houses having solar PV panels (1.5-4kWp).
Jan.15 Baseline electricity use & attitudes survey Household interviews (1 st round) Energy audit & meter readings Sep.17 Jan.16 E v a l u a t i o n Monitoring of PV generation and electricity consumption Analysis & Reporting Final analysis & reporting Aug.17 Monitoring and contribution of smart electricity storage Validation of data Validation of Maslow data m e t h o d o l o g y Monitoring & evaluation of energy savings Household interviews (2 nd round) Sep.16 Evaluation approach A socio-technical approach was adopted for the evaluation of ERIC. A selection of surveys and monitoring were used to evaluate the recruited households participating the project and their electricity consumption and generation characteristics as well as the contribution of storage. The dwelling and household surveys are necessary in order to assess factors that have an impact on household electricity consumption. High frequency data on household electricity consumption, generation and contribution of storage enables profiles to be plotted for each household and self-consumption in PV electricity and reduction in peak grid demand to be visualised. Project meetings were held every quarter with all the project partners and the funding organisation to report on the progress of the work packages in the project. Dissemination has been in the form of community events and presentations at both national and international conferences. Daily Profile of an Eric Household Savings from PV Assessment of self-consumption of solar PV electricity during generation and contribution of storage Savings from battery Method Details Profile illustrates PV electricity stored and discharged (i.e. increase in self-consumption) and the reduction in peak grid demand. Who is taking part in Project ERIC? 163 people 29 families 2 singles 11 couples 82 dwellings 7 houses 8 flats 4 bungalows Example of a households type Dwelling type: Terrace (old construction) Average floor area: 84 m 2 No. bedrooms: 2-3 Household type: families Occupancy pattern: mornings & evenings 24
Before battery installation Household electricity consumption, PV generation and contribution of storage were monitored by meter readings; pre-installation (baseline) and after the installation of Maslow batteries. Electricity use: After battery installation The battery installed has a capacity of 2kWh and it is linked to the installed solar panels so that it is charged only using PV electricity. Electricity use 3 3 Daily average electricity consumption before installation (kwh) 25 2 15 1 5 UK Average: 11 kwh ERIC Average: 7.7 kwh Daily average electricity consumption after installation (kwh) 25 2 15 1 5 The average daily electricty consumption in the baseline period for the 48 households was calculated to be 7.7kWh/day. Compared to the average national average consumption of 11kWh/ day, 65% of the ERIC households are below average consumers. Solar PV electricity generated Electricity generated (kwh) 3 2 1 Grid electricity 12 MWh electricity generated from 54 systems in 1 year. Electricity (kwh) The electricty is sourced from the grid, PV panels and the battery. PV electricity makes up 9% to 61% of household s electricity use with an average of 31%. Electricity from the battery makes up.3% - 13% of the household s total electricity consumption, with an average of 3.4%. When battery is used (typical household) 1.5 1.5 Grid electricity PV electricity Battery electricity Daily consumption: 9.3kWh Annual PV electricity generation In the summer, average daily generation is between 5 kwh and 6.6 kwh (due to different PV system sizes) and matches average daily consumption in some households. : 2: 4: 6: 8: 1: Consumption from battery Consumption from solar 12: 14: 16: 18: 2: Consumption from grid PV Generation 22: What do Project ERIC householders think How concerned are you about... H59 Battery electricity 12% H59 Grid electricity 45% Rising energy prices Not concerned Concerned H59 PV electricity 43% Eric household H59 Security of energy supplies Climate change 1 2 3 4 5 Number of ERIC households In general, the householders were satisfied with the installation of the battery. General opinion received was that having a battery is beneficial. The support received concerning the battery during the ERIC project was mainly remarked as positive. If they had excess PV electricity after storage, they were willing to share that with others in the community. Increase of self-consumption of PV electricty Across the year, increase in self-consumption through battery storage ranged from.2% to 18.5% in the households, with an average of 5.6%. Overall, increase in self-consumption seems to be greater in the medium consumer households and in households with a baseload exceeding the minimum power demand of the battery (2W).
Reduction in peak grid electricy demand Electricity consumption in the heating season (kwh) 6 5 4 3 2 1 National peak power grid demand period is between 5 and 7pm and in that period the battery storage reduces the peak grid demand by 8% from the ERIC community. Key findings Consumption from battery Householder perception of project ERIC and domestic Storage Generally, ERIC householders are very positive about Project ERIC The main conclusions of this study can be summarised as follows: Consumption from grid : 2: 4: 6: 8: 1: 12: 14: 16: 18: 2: 22: Hour of the day I would like to know how much energy is in there They have noticed a reduction in their household electricity bills. Householders are not clear about the benefits of the battery, despite seeing energy savings. They are not able to relate their savings to the battery as they are not able to tell if it has helped to increase their PV electricity. Not all households are able to go online to access their battery data on the dashboard. They would like a simple update on how much electricity they are generating and how much they are storing. There is a wide concern about climate change, the security of energy supplies and rising energy prices within the ERIC community. Wide range of household electricity use makes a strong case for community scale energy management Solar PV systems have performed very well since installation Relevant feedback on the performance of storage will help householders in optimising their behaviours in order to maximise the energy savings Peak grid electricity demand is reduced by 8% in the heating season. Effective planning for dispatch off stored electricity is essential to enhance the reduction in peak grid electricity demand Aggregating and controlling domestic storage can provide additional benefits through local energy sharing and harnessing revenue streams through utility services which is an area of future/ongoing research. Looking to the future: maximizing benefits of domestic storage There is a potential to further increase self-consumption of PV electricity and cost savings, through a local sharing scheme which would help to match local renewable energy supply and energy demand. A community energy sharing scheme could be developed, wherein not all households will have (or are able to have) solar PV systems, but rather have internet enabled batteries that can be monitored and controlled virtually. These batteries could be charged when there is excess PV electricity available (after instantaneous self-consumption and charging of batteries in homes with solar PVs), and discharged when there is a demand for electricity in the community (by dwellings with/without solar PV). Domestic storage can also be aggregated and controlled to generate revenue (for the householders) through ancillary grid services market. Battery storage is particularly suited to deliver large amounts of energy within a short time frame when there is insufficient power on the naitonal grid to meet the demand. Another way of increasing revenue for householders with home batteries is through advances utility services. One such route is through peer-to-peer energy which is getting a lot of interest. - Average % in self-consumption before storage is 51% resulting in significant savings for the households Batteries are making some contribution by increasing self-consumption of PV electricity; average of increase of 5.8%. However, this is dependent on household electricity characteristics: - Low baseload in low consuming households - Little surplus PV electricity in high consuming households Discharge from the batteries is contributing up to 1.5% of the household s electricity use, with an average of 3.4%. Annual cost savings from the contribution of the batteries range from.63 to 45.52 with an average of 15.14. Lead Academic: Prof. Rajat Gupta; Researcher: Dr. Adorkor Bruce For more information, contact: rgupta@brookes.ac.uk https://localisedenergyeric.wordpress.com/ Project lead: Project partners: Project funded by