Automation, which makes life at home easier and safer, is no longer sufficient for smart living concepts. In the time of crisis, the control of energy flows and thus the all-round view has come into focus.
For a long time, smart technology was dominated by particularly intelligent entertainment systems, remote-controlled door locks, blinds and heating control, if possible also via voice assistants. With the risks that have become evident everywhere in the energy crisis for a good year now, new claims have clearly gained interest. This can be seen, for example, in surges in demand for real-time power management tools. Last but not least, rising energy prices are calling for improved energy efficiency and ways to reduce electricity and heating costs. Interestingly, both manufacturers and installers agree: Sensitivity in dealing with energy has increased significantly. This is registered with Wahli, the Bernese provider of the smart home system called Twiline, as well as with ISP Electro Solutions in Ostermundigen, which install building automation and photovoltaic solutions in addition to electrical installations in the canton of Bern.
Urs Wenger, managing director of the specialist for smart home and building system technology Wahli, gets specific when he explains: "After years of focus on comfort, interest is currently shifting towards energy optimization. It is primarily about parameterization or retrofitting of individual elements in order to reduce the consumption of the house in some way or to optimally integrate newly added alternative energy sources.» This does not change the three main reasons for the realization of a smart home, namely increasing comfort, improving security and reducing energy consumption. However, it is important to distinguish between owners of a Twiline smart home system and new projects.
Because, according to Wenger, “when it comes to new systems or major conversions, the focus is increasingly on energy management right from the start. Consumers should be controlled in a targeted manner and prioritized among each other. An important topic here is the optimal use of the self-produced energy and the reduction of the grid purchase », says the Wahli boss. Since the topic had already been taken up earlier, the effects of the energy crisis were not very great. "An important part of the adjustment is the internal training and the provision of suitable function blocks in the system," he adds.
Training and technical system expansion
When asked about new technologies related to the energy crisis, Wenger refers on the one hand to process optimisations, which can be used, for example, to optimize individual room regulation in terms of energy. If self-produced energy such as solar energy is used for heating via a heat pump, a room can be overheated by 2 °C, so that when you switch to heating using energy from the grid, you can benefit from this excess energy, Wenger explains the possibilities. "Or the hot water storage tank is heated up with its own energy (including legionella circuit) and the temperature is set just under mains operation," he cites another example. On the other hand, prioritization techniques have become more important: "Here it is defined whether a consumer can also be switched on when it is purchased from the grid or only for in-house production, and the various consumers can also be prioritized among themselves." For Wahli, the realization of these two areas meant that the in-house system had to be selectively expanded and at the same time the competence of its customer advisors had to be expanded in this direction, explains Wenger.
In addition to internal training and further education, a system is of course continuously expanded and optimized in several areas. According to Wenger, it's about functional extensions as well as the integration of new technologies, modern user interfaces or optimizations for the integrator. When it comes to points “that relate to energy, the prioritization is certainly higher today than it used to be”. However, one should not overlook the fact that the systems are becoming more and more complicated and expensive. "As a system manufacturer, it is a major challenge to make the specific parameterization of the individual system easy and understandable for the system integrator and at the same time to package the entire complexity of the subject for the non-expert user of the system in such a way that he can deal with it." And, Wenger adds, "the better the process optimization and prioritization are solved, the less support is required".
Sensitivity to energy grows
Philippe Burkhalter, the deputy head of technology at ISP Electro Solutions in Ostermundigen, first of all draws attention to the fact that “almost everyone involved in the planning of a home, regardless of whether it’s a condominium or a single-family home, changes their minds at some point during the construction process the question of smart home solutions". At the moment, it is primarily ownership, but overall, given all the crisis scenarios during the energy crisis, Ms. and Mr. Schweizer have become much more sensitive when dealing with energy. “Therefore, the topic of photovoltaic systems is at the top of the list for every new building or conversion. This raises the question of how the energy should then be distributed and managed in the building. Our smart home solutions can monitor and control the energy flows and thus increase self-consumption,” says Burkhalter, outlining the latest changes. Like Wenger, he also addresses the smart home center, which sends the energy to the consumer when he needs it: "In most cases, self-consumption of solar power is even more interesting today than feeding it back into the grid." Burkhalter also points out that prioritizing this can be implemented with an automation system.
Therefore complete solutions
The ISP expert sees all the solutions that only address parts of the building as a handicap for controlling the energy flows: “There are many do-it-yourself solutions for operating the light and heating. These usually do what they are intended for, but cannot be used for energy management, for example.” An overall solution, on the other hand, is able to connect all parts of the building with one another and thus control them optimally, says Burkhalter. The point is that everything in the home can be controlled with just one app. Specifically, it starts «with the PV system (photovoltaic system), continues to the charging station for the electric car, which, for example, is only charged with the surplus from the PV system and, if necessary, also uses energy from the storage facility in the basement. Light, shading and heating are also integrated into the system. With the help of the weather data and the weather station, damage to blinds and sun blinds can be prevented. We also supply a monitoring system to prevent break-ins or an alarm system that calls for help if a resident has fallen and is no longer able to call for help herself.»
Dare to try something new despite skepticism
Despite all of this, Burkhalter does not hide the fact that certain people are reluctant to let even more technology into their lives and are consciously looking for simplicity again. Others, on the other hand, see the benefits and convenience of a smart home and are trying to find an appropriate solution. They have left the image of a smart home behind, in which you constantly "walk around the apartment with the tablet and let the system tell you what you have to do," continues the ISP specialist.
Today, at the top of the list is self-consumption optimization of self-produced energy. "The building decides for itself when it is best to feed the energy produced back into the grid or whether to start the washing machine first or charge the electric car." In addition, with regard to electric cars, there is increasing demand for bidirectional charging of the car, which can already be implemented today, but still harbors many difficulties and ambiguities. But Burkhalter is optimistic in this regard: “It is a matter of time before this also becomes the standard in single-family house scenarios”, then the e-mobile will not only draw electricity from the grid as usual, but the energy from the vehicle batteries will be fed back into the grid Mains or fed into the house. It remains to be seen what impact this form of energy use and storage, as seen by smart home system manufacturers and their installers, will actually have on the energy transition.
