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For building owners, developers and managers, the energy picture is complex. They must comply with regulations throughout Europe to mitigate climate change – encapsulated in the EU's Fit-for-55 legislative package designed to meet the 2030 target of a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions – and there's now the added pressure of the REPowerEU plan. This is the EU's strategy to boost EU-wide energy resilience by reducing dependence on fossil fuels in buildings and industry more quickly. So, which way forward?
Successfully decentralising power generation alongside decarbonisation and the digitalisation of buildings is key. And the renewable local power sources and EV charging infrastructures this requires are now creating demand for the close monitoring, control and optimisation of increasingly complex power flows. All are needed to reduce CO2 emissions, support the grid, save on costs and – critically – ensure compliance.
Making building as an energy hub happen
Eaton's recently launched Building Energy Management Software – integral to its Buildings as a Grid approach – represents a major step forward for the hub concept, empowering building owners and managers in diverse settings. The software integrates EV chargers, solar panels, battery energy storage and an external electricity supply in an ecosystem. It then makes it clear to see and manage the energy flows between these assets and the grid via a simple dashboard.
When it comes to EV charging incorporating zero carbon PV energy, Eaton's new cybersecure Building Energy Management Software brings unique insight and control. It intelligently analyses data that includes the building’s own previous energy use, energy prices, and even weather forecasts to provide accurate predictions of expected solar production and consumption. This helps the user to make very efficient use of renewable energy for EV charging and other electrical requirements to reduce the amount of power their building takes from the grid. At the same time, they can ensure the building’s services are run effectively and occupant comfort is maintained. In this way, they can avoid the peak grid usage fees that can be triggered by EV charging, reduce the building’s energy bills and minimise its carbon footprint.
Typical implementation involves using the software with Eaton’s xStorage battery energy storage system to deploy output from a PV array either for substituting peak power from the grid or selling to the grid (where this is possible) with resulting revenue offsetting energy bills.
Multiple use cases, maximum flexibility
Take the scenario of an office building, for example, where the owner wants to anticipate regulations and meet sustainability goals and employee demand for EV charging, while also minimising investment and enhancing user experience. Eaton's Building Energy Management Software can keep the overall building load within contract capacity limitations and optimise power for EV charging when possible. And it can also ensure business continuity by limiting EV charging power when capacity is low.
A retail building, on the other hand, may wish to achieve sustainability goals by contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions and increase customer loyalty by supplying EV charging supported by PV energy. Eaton's software can manage loads to ensure building business continuity while ensuring a positive user experience at the same time – underpinning future-ready EV charging infrastructure suitable for expansion.
A logistics depot, on the other hand, may wish to avoid seizing the grid or overload protection limit in a setting where there's no additional grid capacity available owing to grid congestion issues. The software can ensure business continuity and optimise PV self-consumption while peak fees are avoided by discharging stored solar energy at night.
Other buildings such as schools, meanwhile, may not have an EV charging agenda at all. For them, the opportunity lies in the software's potential to reduce energy costs through smart energy management by optimising the mains electricity bill and maximising PV self-consumption.
Eaton's Le-Mont-sur-Lausanne energy hub gets real
Potential customers of Eaton's Building Energy Management Software and xStorage battery solution naturally want access to hard data when weighing up its potential benefits. That's why Eaton turned an office building into a real-world testbed to gather statistics on how its Buildings as a Grid approach performs at Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland – its EV charging centre of excellence.
The solution featured a 100 kWp rooftop solar PV array, an Eaton xStorage battery energy storage system (20 kW power and 21 kWh capacity), 16 EV chargers located in Eaton’s underground parking garage, and a DC fast charger located near parking bays outside the building for the public to use. The result? Eaton made up to 60% savings there on its energy bills in 2022 – despite soaring energy prices, and reduced carbon emissions by an average of one ton per month.
Eaton's Building Energy Management Software and xStorage energy storage system look set to write a new chapter in building energy optimisation and renewable energy management.
To find out more, download our free Fundamentals of energy management and energy storage guide.
