Oxford’s Project ERIC has won Residential Building Energy Project of the Year at the Energy Awards 2016 which were announced last week in London.

Project ERIC (Energy Resources for Integrated Communities) is a pioneering smart local energy system which cuts bills and supports renewables. It aims to tackle fuel poverty in Rose Hill in Oxford, an area amongst the 10% most deprived in the UK.

Moixa, a British technology company, is leading the £1.2 million partnership project, working in partnership with LCO members Oxford City Council, Bioregional, Oxford Brookes University and others.

Moixa has installed 2kWh smart batteries in 82 homes, a primary school and an 8kWh battery stack in a Rose Hill Community Centre. The batteries are linked to 200kWp of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the homes and a further 100kWp of solar on the school and community centre, creating a virtual smart local energy grid.

Moixa’s innovative software manages energy flows to ensure that the maximum amount of solar power generated in Rose Hill is used within the community. So, for example, when one home is using little of its solar power the electricity can be used by a neighbour rather than exported to the national grid. The system controls when the battery systems are charging or discharging to manage community load. The software includes “learning algorithms” which respond to user behaviour and solar generation. By managing energy flows it is able to reduce stress on the grid and allow the network to support a higher level of renewables.

Read the Project ERIC case study on the Low Carbon Oxford Website: http://lowcarbonoxford.org/case_studies/project-eric-energy-resources-integrated-communities/

http://lowcarbonoxford.org/case_studies/project-eric-energy-resources-integrated-communities/