Case Study - Energy Consumption Monitor

Overview

E.ON is one of Europe's largest energy companies, providing electricity, gas, and innovative energy solutions to millions of customers across multiple countries. As a leader in the energy sector, E.ON is committed to driving the transition towards a more sustainable and efficient energy future.

One of E.ON's innovative offerings is the Smart Control system, which allows customers to monitor their energy consumption in real-time. This system leverages advanced technology to provide users with detailed insights into their energy usage, empowering them to make informed decisions about their consumption patterns.

Image source: https://www.eon.de/de/pk/smarthome/control.html

How it works

The real-time consumption analysis is achieved through a sophisticated process:

1. Smart Meter Optical Interface: The system begins by utilizing the optical interface of the customer's smart meter. This interface provides a secure and standardized way to access consumption data directly from the meter.

2. Data Transmission via LoRa: Once the consumption data is retrieved from the smart meter, it is transmitted to a smart hub using LoRa (Long Range) protocol. LoRa is a low-power, wide-area network technology that allows for long-range communication with minimal power consumption, making it ideal for IoT applications like smart energy monitoring.

3. Backend Synchronization: The smart hub then synchronizes the collected data with E.ON's backend infrastructure, which is built on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This cloud-based solution ensures scalability, reliability, and security in handling large volumes of real-time data.

4. Data Serving to Clients: Finally, the processed and analyzed consumption data is made available to clients through user-friendly interfaces, such as mobile apps or web portals. This allows customers to access their energy consumption information anytime, anywhere, enabling them to make informed decisions about their energy usage.

By providing this real-time insight, E.ON empowers its customers to take control of their energy consumption, potentially reducing both their energy bills and their carbon footprint. This innovative approach aligns with E.ON's commitment to promoting energy efficiency and sustainability in the modern energy landscape.

What we did

In this project, we provided comprehensive consulting services to E.ON for their Smart Control initiative. Our role was to guide E.ON through the development and implementation of a system that allows customers to monitor their energy consumption in real-time using the optical interface of their smart meters.

Our consulting services included:

• Technical Architecture Design: We helped E.ON design a scalable and secure architecture for their Smart Control system. This involved recommending appropriate technologies and frameworks that could handle real-time data processing and visualization.
• Integration Strategy: We assisted in developing a strategy for integrating the Smart Control system with E.ON's existing infrastructure and other relevant systems.

Throughout the project, we worked closely with the rest of the team, sharing our expertise and empowering them to make informed decisions. We helped to successfully launch the Smart Control system, enabling E.ON's customers to gain valuable insights into their energy consumption patterns and potentially reduce their energy usage and costs.