Smart Grid: Energetic communities

P2P energy trading management system

With all the latest developments in the energy sector –sustainability targets, new technology, and client demands – working towards a greener world isn’t an option, but an obligation for companies looking for a sustainable business model. At SNGULAR, we thought about how we could play our part and realize we could offer some unique market solutions. Our teams and technology can help clients save energy and give them the opportunity to be their own energy producers, designing services that bring added value.

The challenge

A multinational solar panel manufacturer from the US asked Sngular to design a solution to optimize energy flows in a micro-network. They wanted to develop a pilot project in Thailand to provide power to their employees who lived around a large photovoltaic power plant.

The solution

We designed the architecture of a P2P energy trading system managed by a blockchain–based smart agent. Its added value lies in its highly efficient system that manages the energy coming from solar panels connected to homes and in maximizing the ‘prosumer’s’ benefits by allowing them to sell excess energy. Blockchain technology brings transparency and trust to the table.

Business model

The business model is based on paid subscriptions to use the platform and additional revenue also comes from the use of the micronetwork in the act of trading.

Global Solution Graphical Scheme

The global solution involves:

A Smart Agent

• Smart Agent that reads and certifies the energy balance of each unit. This allows it to obtain data in real-time or near real-time, create rules and generate alerts.
• Establishes the conditions to which the services adhere (as a buyer, seller, or both).
• It reads the production and consumption information of each household, signs it with a built-in wallet and notifies the network.
• Sends information about the availability to buy and/or sell energy.
• Acts on various devices to control energy demand based on the policy set by the user.

At SNGULAR, we always strive to integrate the products of different manufactures in our projects. Thanks to the development of middleware with a set of services that can act as a gateway between devices with different protocols (ModBus, HTTP, OPC, Mqtt) we can eliminate vendor lock-in.

System Information Management IoT Platform

Our software isable bring devices online and monitor the main variables at a massive scale. It manages the operations using alarms and can update the firmware of all the devices remotely.

Smart Contracts in Blockchain for energy trading

A blockchain-based system that manages compensation between parties following the rules of supply and demand through Smart Contracts. This is how it is able to make the exchange of energy more transparent and secure, which both increases trust on the clients’ end and reduces costs due to a marketplace without middlemen.

An AI is in charge of making automated buying/selling proposals, keeping in mind the production forecasts for the main plant and the prosumers which depend on variables like the hourly price of energy, weather, or planned maintenance.

Customer App and CRM

In real-time, the app displays the amount of energy produced, how much was consumed, and the exchange of kWh. The app was designed to be user-centric and intuitive. We also set up Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions using tools like Salesforce (a Sngular partner) for the clients who need it. SNGULAR has more than 25 years of experience in developing these types of projects for clients.

Data analysis and Business Intelligence

We work with data analysis components that take the vast amounts of collected data and visualize it through simple charts or produce self-service reports:

• Predicting energy generation data based on meteorological forecasts.
• Predicting consumption, optimizing energy flows.
• Churn prediction.