The combination of solar installation, battery storage system, heat pump, e-vehicles and the associated charging infrastructure is extremely popular in both the private and industrial sectors. It allows consumers to become as independent as possible and to cover power generation, consumption and energy storage in their own system that is independent of the energy markets and provides cheap electricity.
However, in order for each of these components to work together profitably, they need to “communicate” with each other and with the power grid – which is where energy management systems come in. They process data relevant for energy management, such as generation and load profiles, price signals from the power exchange and weather data, often with the help of artificial intelligence. Based on the results, the energy management system determines whether to feed electricity into the grid or use it in the household/company, or to store or release electricity from the stationary storage device or the e-vehicle battery to maximize profit. This allows the combination of solar installation, battery storage system, heat pump and e-vehicle to work profitably – which would not be possible without energy management.
As a result, the market for energy management systems has grown tremendously in recent years. But there continue to be major challenges in product development. A standardized communication protocol that can connect all components, regardless of manufacturer, has yet to be established. This means the market is diverse – from products that advertise “compatibility with different manufacturers” but are usually still limited to a specific product range, to proprietary systems that enable a “deep integration” of products from a single manufacturer, everything is available today. It also remains to be seen whether hardware-based or cloud-based systems will prevail.
In any case, as the power system becomes more flexible, energy management systems will continue to grow in importance, as they will need to communicate with smart meter gateways in addition to controllable producers and consumers. That is why it is important to keep an eye on control tools such as energy management systems.
