Case Study
A Smart Energy Management Company Develops a Home Energy Management Platform to Help Customers Save on Energy Bills
The digital transformation solution helps customers be more sustainable and save money on their energy bills
Overview
Over the past 11 years, the client has successfully developed more than 25 products and sold over four million energy monitoring systems. Primarily working with utility providers and constantly breaking new ground in the home energy industry, they strive to make energy consumption smarter by helping their customers save on energy bills through fully integrated end-to-end data services with insight reporting to automate the next best action.
Challenge
The client wanted to build a next-generation Home Energy Management System (HEMS) that could be installed as part of the smart meter rollout in the UK market. They lacked a system that could automate energy savings across the various systems and appliances in an energy-consuming home. The solution would be different from their previous HEMS, leveraging the capabilities of the home’s smart meters. This, combined with the latest IoT technology, would increase their capability and reduce cost.
Solution
Ness established a dedicated Intelligent Engineering Centre for the client to build the device software and platform, delivering several HEMS initiatives, including:
- Digital Platform: Converted the legacy data platform into a cloud-based, AWS-powered platform that took advantage of cloud components to reduce costs and increase operational efficiency
- Heating Control: Embedded software development for RF edge devices such as smart thermostats for controlling individual heating zones, smart switches for controlling the boiler, and communication hubs for connecting all pieces together
- Water Control: Embedded software development for RF edge devices such as detecting water leakage and closing a valve to avoid property damage
- Energy Monitoring: Embedded software development for RF edge devices such as energy monitors and In-home Displays (IHDs) for interfacing with smart electricity and gas meters to visualize and analyze the usage
Result
Ness helped the client deliver more than half a million new units in one year, saving over 400 GBP per average household per year and reducing carbon emissions and gas consumption.