REFORMERS deepens collaboration on smart control of home batteries

Learning together from practical experience

Residents of Plan Oost in Heiloo are involved in a pilot with home batteries and Teleport Home systems, which provide households with insight into their energy consumption. Now, approximately a year later, the focus is shifting to improving the control of these systems and utilizing practical experience.

As part of this next step, seven residents of Plan Oost recently gathered to share their experiences with home batteries and work together on better managing their energy systems. The meeting brought together users, companies, and knowledge institutions and underscored the importance of collaboration between practice and research.

The meeting started with four short presentations. A student from TU Delft presented a first version of a control program for the home batteries and engaged in a discussion with the residents during the meeting to gather feedback to improve the system. Subsequently, it was explained how the data provided by residents is processed via a so-called data lake, which is also used by the university for analysis and research.

Transparency and customization as the key to optimization

The presented data overviews were positively received but also led to critical reflection. For instance, it proved difficult to accurately identify individual consumption profiles because it was not visible which devices were being used by which user. This makes comparisons between households complex and hinders the identification of optimization opportunities.

To address this issue, the participants agreed to be more transparent within the group about individual situations, with the understanding that this information remains strictly within the group and is only disclosed externally in an anonymized form. This openness contributes to the development of better solutions.

During the meeting, residents also shared their own analyses and strategies. One participant presented an overview of day-ahead energy prices over the past ten years and applies a rule-based strategy for charging and discharging his battery based on this. Another participant uses a system within the existing Energy Management System (EMS) that manages based on percentages of predicted energy prices. These different approaches made it clear that customization is essential, as every household has a unique energy profile.

In addition, it was discussed how a home battery can be better integrated with an electric car. This led to a discussion regarding the limitations of the current rule-based approach and the possibilities of more advanced, AI-driven systems currently being worked on.

From pilot to learning environment

The developments in Plan Oost align with broader discussions within the REFORMERS project, in which action research and practice-oriented learning are central. The collaboration between residents, suppliers, and educational institutions fits within the quadruple helix approach, in which innovation arises from the interaction between users, the market, knowledge institutions, and the government.

Based on the experiences in Plan Oost, work is underway to develop a masterclass around this working method, in which the acquired knowledge is directly applicable in practice.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to look ahead to next steps. Discussions included possible expansions of the project and additional initiatives in the neighborhood, including the desire for a sound barrier with solar panels along the A9 motorway. It was also agreed to jointly organize a visit to the Boekelermeer site within REFORMERS, where large-scale batteries are in operation and work is underway on a hydrogen project.

The resident approach for Plan Oost, within REFORMERS, is coordinated by Sustainable Heiloo.