Breaking down the language barriers between green technologies

The technical description: we’re joining a global consortium of tech companies and energy suppliers that aims to establish new technical guidelines for device interoperability dedicated to advancing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

The simple version: it’s like Bluetooth, the same as connecting headphones or dropping photos to friends, a new way of making sure the energy tech in your home – like solar panels and electric vehicles – all speak the same language to each other.

We know consumers are key to accelerating the energy transition. We’ll only really reduce our impact on the planet if everyone plays a role – at home, in business and across whole communities.

The most visible opportunity will be the switch from petrol and diesel cars to electric alternatives, fitting solar panels to our roofs and swapping boilers for heat pumps. But to get the most out of all these new technologies, we need to find a way of connecting all of those things together in a frictionless process (just like different phones, laptops, headphones and other tech use Bluetooth to talk to one another).

This is a big opportunity. In 2023, consumers around the world invested $184 billion in low carbon technology, and by 2030 consumers are anticipated to purchase more than 200 million devices including EV chargers, solar panels, batteries and heat pumps. All that extra power demand, if not managed efficiently, will demand huge investment in our power networks. Done properly though, there are huge benefits for us at all at home and across the whole country.

The problem right now is that a lot of green energy products don’t all speak the same language, which means we’re not getting the most out of them. By creating new guidelines that make it easy to connect these sustainable solutions to each other as well as to your home, to your energy supplier and to the grid, we’ll be able to help the energy system be more responsive and flexible, which will rapidly accelerate the journey towards a net-zero future.

This is about increasing choice for customers as well as reducing integration costs for the industry and therefore also reducing costs to customers. It means whatever tech you buy, and from whatever manufacturer you choose, the systems in your home are as smart as they can be and able to talk each other’s language.

Opportunities could include using your car’s battery to power your home in the evening when demand is greatest, making sure solar panels and batteries are storing power when energy is cheapest (or free!) and discharging when prices rise so you’re paying as little as possible, or even getting paid for using that stored power to support the grid.

It could even be sharing power between neighbours. It just needs us to talk to one another.

So it was great to be at the launch of this new approach to standards for device interoperability this week, with a group of international companies dedicated to advancing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

E.ON Next is a founding member of the Mercury Consortium which brings together more than two dozen companies from across the global energy chain. We’re playing our part in the consortium by focusing on customer participation but it has been great to engage with energy leaders, manufacturers and innovators to explore how we can collectively drive the clean energy transition forward.

The consortium will be managed by EPRI, an independent, non-profit R&D organisation dedicated to advancing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

This is a perfect example of how we can work together across the industry to advance the digital, dynamic grid of the future, and make sure everyone in the energy transmission chain can benefit from a smarter future.