In this contributed blog, Alok Dubey, regional director of western Europe for EV chargepoint management platform Monta, discusses how home energy demand can go carbon neutral.
UK homeowners are shifting towards renewable energy with the aim of reducing their energy bills. Solar panels installed on homes are becoming more widespread, leading to increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and more efficient use of home appliances to decrease their carbon emissions.
All good steps, but to really make an impact homeowners need to have the right home energy management infrastructure in place to manage their power usage in the long term. Carbon-neutral energy consumption in our homes calls for a properly connected ecosystem of smart devices that can be managed via a single-view dashboard, in real-time.
It sounds more like science fiction than reality, but managing the carbon footprint of our homes works in a similar way to overseeing the lifecycle of EVs. In both cases, this calls for an examination of raw materials sourced to put homes (and vehicles) together; having a plan in place for a recycled second-life system; and ensuring that energy storage facilities are maintained throughout using renewable sources.
Overcoming obstacles to building sustainable households
From experience, two main concerns need to be addressed to optimise the process of smart charging adoption.
Firstly, homeowners need to ensure seamless integration between charging points and solar panels – a concept which may be new to some. Secondly, such infrastructure simply remains unaffordable for many, due to the early-stage nature of the technology involved.
However, proper integration of solar power for electric charging can be achieved using a solar inverter, which converts DC energy into AC. Partnering with a solar charging provider compatible with your current infrastructure can keep costs down.
Additionally, with heat pumps being used for homes as well as PV energy powered by wind becoming more established and mature, the economic value of further renewable energy sources is set to increase.
To build on existing battery, EV and PV components, schemes and grants are available to ease the transition process. These include the EV chargepoint grant for individuals, EV infrastructure grant for businesses, and the Workplace Charging Scheme. Successful applicants to these programmes can receive 75% of money spent on installation and work done, depending on the particular scheme applied to.
With these measures in place, homeowners have ample options for facilitating the upkeep of electric vehicles.
Planning for the future
Labour plans to get Britain building again and will reintroduce mandatory housing targets. Any home builder will tell you that it is easier to create homes with sustainable solutions in mind from the outset, as standard, rather than to retrofit legacy household systems. Yet there are ways to make changes today to existing buildings, with a view to decarbonising them for future generations.
This involves the emergence of a new, renewable-first industry acting separate from current incumbent utilities, along with a patient rise in demand for a shift away from fossil-fuelled vehicles. Meanwhile, landlords, housing agencies and infrastructure suppliers need to be completely aligned on their mutual goal to reduce carbon emissions.
This architecture transformation takes time, but the more vendors that can thrive in the space, the more reliability and fewer faults this technology can provide customers. Schemes offered by vendors are available to homeowners looking to reduce or spread solar panel costs, as well as cut energy bills. Finance options can be leveraged with a choice of time frames ranging from 12 to 60 months.
Renters and homeowners alike must remember that to properly power homes long-term, charging systems need to be constantly and properly maintained and kept secure, with the aid of station engineering services. Audits must be carried out at least annually.
The role of government
As with any early-stage innovation and sector, regulators need to learn how to keep advances in check. For example, UK government policymakers recently passed laws to make pricing for EV public charging points more transparent and comparable among suppliers.
While this was a positive step forward, more must be done to build on this and incentivise renters and homeowners to facilitate bidirectional charging from private ports to their places of residence. While this is available to consumers now, the number of steps towards achieving this through third parties needs to be brought down. Using EVs as a power source for our homes rather than a drain requires a new understanding and approach.
Government investment is certainly required across the EV and PV spaces to reduce the need to import technologies from outside the UK and help bolster domestic challengers to the likes of Tesla. There must also be an incentive in place to create new energy stores that can be used without requiring a large PV system. Thirdly, multilateral collaboration is needed between the UK and other European governments to find ways to crack down on CO2 emissions.
Bringing industry and homes together
By going on a journey of customer accessibility, collaboration and deregulation, the humble car can become the energy store for carbon-neutral homes, ushering in a new era of hardware. As EV and PV offerings become gradually more affordable and standardised, we can effectively decarbonise our homes for future generations.
