Future of Energy
Future of Energy
Future of Energy
Emerging Themes
Emerging Themes
Emerging Themes
Nov-Dec 2023
Nov-Dec 2023
Nov-Dec 2023
EKA x Enefit
EKA x Enefit
EKA x Enefit
Predicting the future is always difficult, especially in the energy sector which is fueled by global emissions and how to bring them down. This was exactly our task during the emerging themes course.
Partnering up with the energy provider Enefit the team dug into possible touchpoints. One of the pain points for users was energy market peaks which I decided to focus on.
During my independent process with market peaks, I found two interesting things that are nothing new but not used together a lot: Demand Response and IoT(Internet of Things).
In the end, I proposed a solution for smart apartment buildings where the partner could offer a vast selection of solutions and the user has less to worry about.
Predicting the future is always difficult, especially in the energy sector which is fueled by global emissions and how to bring them down. This was exactly our task during the emerging themes course.
Partnering up with the energy provider Enefit the team dug into possible touchpoints. One of the pain points for users was energy market peaks which I decided to focus on. During my independent process with market peaks, I found two interesting things that are nothing new but not used together a lot: Demand Response and IoT(Internet of Things).
In the end, I proposed a solution for smart apartment buildings where the partner could offer a vast selection of solutions and the user has less to worry about.
Predicting the future is always difficult, especially in the energy sector which is fueled by global emissions and how to bring them down. This was exactly our task during the emerging themes course.
Partnering up with the energy provider Enefit the team dug into possible touchpoints. One of the pain points for users was energy market peaks which I decided to focus on. During my independent process with market peaks, I found two interesting things that are nothing new but not used together a lot: Demand Response and IoT(Internet of Things).
In the end, I proposed a solution for smart apartment buildings where the partner could offer a vast selection of solutions and the user has less to worry about.
Backstory
Backstory
This was my final project at EKA with an industry partner who at this time was Enefit. The topics we started to work with was about energy market in 2035. The initial part of the we did together with the whole team which included a lot of desk research and different exercises to open up or minds to see connections, some user interviews and mapping out the current situation.
Based on all that we found many different problems and possible interventions for the future. I got interested in the energy market related to high peaks and how can we bring them down.
This was my final project at EKA with an industry partner who at this time was Enefit. The topics we started to work with was about energy market in 2035. The initial part of the we did together with the whole team which included a lot of desk research and different exercises to open up or minds to see connections, some user interviews and mapping out the current situation.
Based on all that we found many different problems and possible interventions for the future. I got interested in the energy market related to high peaks and how can we bring them down.
This was my final project at EKA with an industry partner who at this time was Enefit. The topics we started to work with was about energy market in 2035. The initial part of the we did together with the whole team which included a lot of desk research and different exercises to open up or minds to see connections, some user interviews and mapping out the current situation.
Based on all that we found many different problems and possible interventions for the future. I got interested in the energy market related to high peaks and how can we bring them down.
The problem and scope
The problem and scope
The problem I started to look into by myself was the high peaks in the energy market and how to bring them down. Customers are unhappy with high spot prices even more because the neighboring countries might not share the same price with us.
Thus, I started to go through many articles and studies and conducted some small interviews to get people's opinions about the spot price. How often do they look at it? Do they restrict consumption during high prices? Are they thinking of producing electricity by themselves? All these questions needed answers.
After going through a lot of data and filtering out the helpful information I started to see some patterns. Going green is hard and people don't want to pay extra for it. So the only reason they regulate their energy consumption is to save money, not the environment. Any optimization the consumer does brings a lot of hassle and no benefits on a global level, at least nothing you can see. All that has made energy consumption frustrating and requires a lot of effort to not spend too much.
This is where is saw an intervention point. Could we come up with a solution that helps people consume less while saving money and nerves? I ended up starting the process to my end solution with a question on how can people live with volatility.
The problem I started to look into by myself was the high peaks in the energy market and how to bring them down. Customers are unhappy with high spot prices even more because the neighboring countries might not share the same price with us.
Thus, I started to go through many articles and studies and conducted some small interviews to get people's opinions about the spot price. How often do they look at it? Do they restrict consumption during high prices? Are they thinking of producing electricity by themselves? All these questions needed answers.
After going through a lot of data and filtering out the helpful information I started to see some patterns. Going green is hard and people don't want to pay extra for it. So the only reason they regulate their energy consumption is to save money, not the environment. Any optimization the consumer does brings a lot of hassle and no benefits on a global level, at least nothing you can see. All that has made energy consumption frustrating and requires a lot of effort to not spend too much.
This is where is saw an intervention point. Could we come up with a solution that helps people consume less while saving money and nerves? I ended up starting the process to my end solution with a question on how can people live with volatility.
The problem I started to look into by myself was the high peaks in the energy market and how to bring them down. Customers are unhappy with high spot prices even more because the neighboring countries might not share the same price with us.
Thus, I started to go through many articles and studies and conducted some small interviews to get people's opinions about the spot price. How often do they look at it? Do they restrict consumption during high prices? Are they thinking of producing electricity by themselves? All these questions needed answers.
After going through a lot of data and filtering out the helpful information I started to see some patterns. Going green is hard and people don't want to pay extra for it. So the only reason they regulate their energy consumption is to save money, not the environment. Any optimization the consumer does brings a lot of hassle and no benefits on a global level, at least nothing you can see. All that has made energy consumption frustrating and requires a lot of effort to not spend too much.
This is where is saw an intervention point. Could we come up with a solution that helps people consume less while saving money and nerves? I ended up starting the process to my end solution with a question on how can people live with volatility.
Design proccess
Design proccess
Design proccess
After having settled on my problem I started to look for possible solutions. Is it something that has never been done or maybe it exists in the world?
The first thing that I found was something called Demand Response which is a voluntary reduction or shift of electricity use by customers. Quite a few countries are using this system already not just for industry but private households. New Zealand for example now meets over 16 percent of peak demand from this.
This alone is a difficult solution to sell to private citizens. Although people would not just save money but get paid back, it requires you to be ready and willing to lower consumption. Thus I started to look into smart solutions to manage systems which was also mentioned by a user recommending the use of smart sockets.
IoT or the Internet of Things comes to the rescue. With smart solutions and buildings, energy consumption can be shared and micromanaged in every aspect, thus bringing costs and usage down. There was a study from Sweden where energy consumption for heating was lowered by more than 10% and that was a soviet era building
With this information, I put together a final concept.
After having settled on my problem I started to look for possible solutions. Is it something that has never been done or maybe it exists in the world?
The first thing that I found was something called Demand Response which is a voluntary reduction or shift of electricity use by customers. Quite a few countries are using this system already not just for industry but private households. New Zealand for example now meets over 16 percent of peak demand from this.
This alone is a difficult solution to sell to private citizens. Although people would not just save money but get paid back, it requires you to be ready and willing to lower consumption. Thus I started to look into smart solutions to manage systems which was also mentioned by a user recommending the use of smart sockets.
IoT or the Internet of Things comes to the rescue. With smart solutions and buildings, energy consumption can be shared and micromanaged in every aspect, thus bringing costs and usage down. There was a study from Sweden where energy consumption for heating was lowered by more than 10% and that was a soviet era building
With this information, I put together a final concept.
After having settled on my problem I started to look for possible solutions. Is it something that has never been done or maybe it exists in the world?
The first thing that I found was something called Demand Response which is a voluntary reduction or shift of electricity use by customers. Quite a few countries are using this system already not just for industry but private households. New Zealand for example now meets over 16 percent of peak demand from this.
This alone is a difficult solution to sell to private citizens. Although people would not just save money but get paid back, it requires you to be ready and willing to lower consumption. Thus I started to look into smart solutions to manage systems which was also mentioned by a user recommending the use of smart sockets.
IoT or the Internet of Things comes to the rescue. With smart solutions and buildings, energy consumption can be shared and micromanaged in every aspect, thus bringing costs and usage down. There was a study from Sweden where energy consumption for heating was lowered by more than 10% and that was a soviet era building
With this information, I put together a final concept.
Results & benefits
Results & benefits
Results & benefits
The end solution in the form of a concept included a smart building where every single apartment is connected. Residents would be offered clean energy production, shared amenities, device and machinery monitoring, and money back on lowering consumption.
Clean energy production can be offered with solar panels on the roof and shared electric cars in the basement which also act as additional storage during peaks thus lowering the need to buy more energy.
On top of sharing cars with an entire apartment building other amenities can be included, like washing machines in the basement or BBQ supplies for a party with friends. Everything that is not necessary daily can be shared, at least to some degree.
The end solution in the form of a concept included a smart building where every single apartment is connected. Residents would be offered clean energy production, shared amenities, device and machinery monitoring, and money back on lowering consumption.
Clean energy production can be offered with solar panels on the roof and shared electric cars in the basement which also act as additional storage during peaks thus lowering the need to buy more energy.
On top of sharing cars with an entire apartment building other amenities can be included, like washing machines in the basement or BBQ supplies for a party with friends. Everything that is not necessary daily can be shared, at least to some degree.
The end solution in the form of a concept included a smart building where every single apartment is connected. Residents would be offered clean energy production, shared amenities, device and machinery monitoring, and money back on lowering consumption.
Clean energy production can be offered with solar panels on the roof and shared electric cars in the basement which also act as additional storage during peaks thus lowering the need to buy more energy.
On top of sharing cars with an entire apartment building other amenities can be included, like washing machines in the basement or BBQ supplies for a party with friends. Everything that is not necessary daily can be shared, at least to some degree.
Device monitoring gives the user information once their TV has been left on but no one is home or the refrigerator is getting too old and is not energy efficient. This helps the user be informed and keep costs down for everybody.
All those things put together bring value to the customer, the service provider, and the country. The consumer has a better overview of their lifestyle and items around them. The country needs to build less new energy productions thus saving money and the environment.
We can not get rid of peaks due to the way a market works but we can bring them down and make it less volatile.
Device monitoring gives the user information once their TV has been left on but no one is home or the refrigerator is getting too old and is not energy efficient. This helps the user be informed and keep costs down for everybody.
All those things put together bring value to the customer, the service provider, and the country. The consumer has a better overview of their lifestyle and items around them. The country needs to build less new energy productions thus saving money and the environment.
We can not get rid of peaks due to the way a market works but we can bring them down and make it less volatile.
Device monitoring gives the user information once their TV has been left on but no one is home or the refrigerator is getting too old and is not energy efficient. This helps the user be informed and keep costs down for everybody.
All those things put together bring value to the customer, the service provider, and the country. The consumer has a better overview of their lifestyle and items around them. The country needs to build less new energy productions thus saving money and the environment.
We can not get rid of peaks due to the way a market works but we can bring them down and make it less volatile.
Future
Future
For the future of this project as it is with many projects further user testing should be conducted based on this general concept. Maybe there are aspects that people do not like, whether it is sharing a laundry room or driving in the same car.
From the partner's side, they could look into the financial side of things. Would offering something like that bring business value and lower peak demand thus needing fewer new energy plants and making consumers happier by having them fuss around less? Would it be better to use solutions already on the market and combine them together or should something be developed in-house? This was a really interesting project to me and I would actually like to live in a building like that myself.
For the future of this project as it is with many projects further user testing should be conducted based on this general concept. Maybe there are aspects that people do not like, whether it is sharing a laundry room or driving in the same car.
From the partner's side, they could look into the financial side of things. Would offering something like that bring business value and lower peak demand thus needing fewer new energy plants and making consumers happier by having them fuss around less? Would it be better to use solutions already on the market and combine them together or should something be developed in-house? This was a really interesting project to me and I would actually like to live in a building like that myself.
or the future of this project as it is with many projects further user testing should be conducted based on this general concept. Maybe there are aspects that people do not like, whether it is sharing a laundry room or driving in the same car.
From the partner's side, they could look into the financial side of things. Would offering something like that bring business value and lower peak demand thus needing fewer new energy plants and making consumers happier by having them fuss around less? Would it be better to use solutions already on the market and combine them together or should something be developed in-house? This was a really interesting project to me and I would actually like to live in a building like that myself.
© Henrik Romanenkov. 2023