Utilities & local energy
Get ‘right-now visibility’ of distributed energy, network status and consumer use.
CASE STUDY
When the South Australian Government responded to AEMO concerns about electricity system stability and reliability in the face of a proliferation of distributed energy resources (DER), led by rooftop PV, its ‘Smarter Homes’ regulatory package created requirements for remote solar export control.
As a result, South Australia’s privatised network business, SA Power Networks, put itself forward to be a ‘Relevant Agent’ for implementing the new requirements, and is working with numerous solar installers in this Agent role.
Wattwatchers responded quickly by creating a flexible solution package for solar export control—disconnection and reconnection over the air—that works with SA Power Networks. The solution package, which we called ‘Smart Agent-as-a-Service’ or ‘Smart AaaS’ for short, is based on Wattwatchers monitoring + switching hardware and is enabled by our IoT integration platform, ADEPT.
How Wattwatchers can help
DER visibility
See what distributed energy resources are doing in real-time and over time.
Solar export control
Provide export limiting options across multiple inverter types and technologies.
Voltage monitoring
Track large-scale grid disturbances and pinpoint transformer issues.
System planning
Get granular with grid areas under stress to support investment decision-making.
Demand response
Target loads and equip homes and enterprises to participate in programs.
Virtual Power Plants
Match supply and demand better to enable VPPs at residential scale.
Microgrid management
Engage communities in planning and delivering local energy solutions.
Customer engagement
Apps and programs that engage customers, making energy interesting and identifying savings.
CASE STUDY
When Ireland’s leading solar installer Activ8 searched the world for small-scale solar PV monitoring technologies, it quickly found its way to Wattwatchers.
Owned 50% by leading renewable electricity utility SSE Airtricity, Activ8 has delivered over 12,000 residential and commercial solar installations into the ‘one island’ Single Electricity Market, which covers both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland.
Activ8 has deployed Wattwatchers at Irish farms and also schools. With SSE Airtricity as a strategic partner as well as an investor, Activ8 has been the go-to solar installer for a major energy management program at a Dublin community college being delivered by the utility with Microsoft and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
Agriculture is a major source of Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions, and Activ8 delivers solar and smart monitoring for the ‘FarmGen’ program being delivered by dairy and plant-based foods group Glanbia Ireland, with SSE Airtricity. In 2020, three of Activ8’s partners or projects—including SSE Airtricity—featured as winners in the annual SEAI Awards.
FEATURED PRODUCT
For switching of loads and solar export control
The Auditor 6M+3SW combines all of the functionality of the flexible and reliable Auditor 6M with circuit-level switching capabilities.
Contactors are available for switching of single- or three-phase circuits, and can also be connected to other equipment, such as inverters, to remotely trigger control functions (such as solar export control).
Gain control of DER
Learn more about how you can leverage Wattwatchers devices and ADEPT to solve your grid management challenges.