Horizon Power’s Smart Sun pilot takes finalist position in 2019 Western Australian Energy Awards
Horizon Power’s Smart Sun pilot - developed in collaboration with the State Government’s land development agency DevelopmentWA - has been selected as a finalist for Energy Innovation of the Year in the 2019 Western Australian Energy Awards.
Using SwitchDin’s technology, the Smart Sun pilot takes a cutting-edge approach to electricity network services, integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar, batteries and air conditioners directly into the grid’s operation.
For the pilot, conducted with eligible households within Waranyjarri Estate in Broome North, Horizon Power has deployed SwitchDin Droplets in participating households to provide usage analytics and device coordination for each site. The Droplets create a common language for all equipment in the pilot, facilitating smooth communications and operation.
The local distribution transformer was also equipped with a Droplet to monitor voltage levels of the network and power flows through the transformer itself.
Combined with SwitchDin’s Stormcloud management platform, the system allows Horizon Power to balance customer’s renewable generation and loads to enable a greater penetration of customer solar PV on the local network.
Learnings from the pilot will be relevant across Australia and the world.
“Horizon Power are breaking new ground in this space, with many small grids and high penetration of solar,” said SwitchDin CEO Dr Andrew Mears.
“We are proud to count as a client a company that is taking such a proactive approach to dealing with the challenges facing our energy system in transition.
“They are exploring measures which enable customer choice and which offer the best pathway to cleaner and more efficient electricity.”