A wave of new energy innovation will give greater control to electricity consumers and provides hope that power price relief for Australia’s homes and businesses is in sight, the Clean Energy Council said today.
Clean Energy Council Kane Thornton said a wave of smart Australian businesses is releasing game-changing technology and solutions that could help consumers save on their bills.
“Anywhere a significant problem exists is fertile ground for innovators to develop new and valuable solutions, and this is exactly what we are seeing across the energy sector right now,” Thornton said.
“The launch today of the next generation Redback Smart Hybrid System is a good example of this. A partnership between EnergyAustralia and Redback Technologies promises to give customers more power by allowing them to produce their own energy from solar panels, store it and employ intelligent energy control systems to ensure it is used at the best possible time to maximise savings.
“This follows last week’s launch of the Decentralised Energy Exchange (deX) technology platform by GreenSync, which has attracted dozens of major industry partners including the Clean Energy Council. The deX platform allows homes and businesses to earn money by selling a range of services to help stabilise the electricity grid,” he said.
Thornton said it is clear that a big opportunity exists for innovative and user-friendly new technology to help both homeowners and commercial businesses make the most of their renewable energy systems and manage their energy use better. The wave of innovation in this sector is only accelerating, he said.
A variety of projects were shortlisted in the Innovation category of the 2017 Clean Energy Council Awards. Two projects shared first place at the recent awards:
- Horizon Power introduced a new way of billing modelled on mobile phone plans to make it more understandable, as well as an app where they can challenge themselves to stay under a set allowance each month to save money.
- AusNet Services partnered with GreenSync and PowerTec on a community mini-grid project in Victoria which allowed customers to save money by sharing energy between themselves, as well as save on their bills through using 100% renewable energy.