Energy Manager

Energy Manager

Innovation Type: Instruction (Procedures)

What is this innovation about?

Arca Nova owns an energy company (Nova Energy) that will function as an energy manager for the installations in the demo. Nova Energy owns, operates, and takes care of maintenance of all the energy centers and the installations in the buildings – that is, solar panels (that convert solar energy to electricity) and panels that convert solar energy to heat. In this regard, the company uses a tool called ELVACO. The ELVACO tool had been on the market for many years. Arca Nova found that the system would work very well for their purpose. This tool can be considered as the company’s primary energy monitoring system. This management tool helps the company to see all energy flows – both the energy that is used by each household and the energy that is produced in the energy centers.

From the demo apartments, the company collects data related to hot tap water consumption, cold tap water consumption and underfloor heating energy. Waterborne underfloor heating (“vannbåren gulvvarme”) is the source of heating in all the demo apartments. Data connected to solar power, which is produced on the roof and walls, is also registered in the system. In addition, the company works now with all thermally produced energy and electrical power consumption in the energy center, and the associated data from the center is fed into the system. All data / information is collected at one gateway / interface. Then, the company can just log on to the gateway, see all the measurement points and create reports. This can be done by generating Excel files that can then be downloaded or sent monthly to the relevant recipients.

What kind of challenges it will solve if deployed widely

Arca Nova sees that applying their tool / system (ELVACO) is an innovation with respect to the housing market in Norway in general and Eastern Norway in particular. There are very few who use it in their housing projects, even though the system has been available before. The industry and many other segments have used systems like this over time. But, Arca Nova may be some of the first, at least at that time, to take the system into housing projects. Owners of apartments or houses can then get a good overview of energy flow with the help of ELVACO. The system makes it possible for Arca Nova’s customers to get information on all energy flows in one electricity bill / invoice. And, it is the only project in whole Norway that has exactly a system like this – All in one invoice. This can be seen as something new.

Information with regard to the invoice provides information about usage of energy during the period. This contributes to making the customers (tenants / house owners) aware of their own energy behaviour. Even if they are traveling or wherever they are, they have a full overview of what is happening in their own home.
In addition to ELVACO, the company uses another system in the houses at local level called the smart home system. there is also a gateway / interface where customers can control everything in their home – Everything from sun shading to lights to heat control. Arca Nova gives their customers the opportunity to control everything in a mobile application there.

One wants to utilize energy more rationally, because the cost of building entire grids is very high. If the grid companies fail to deliver, then it will cost them a lot. This is a societal challenge. There should be a balance between energy use and production. Norway and the entire continent are struggling with providing enough power to their citizens. And then, there are projects like the one in Fredrikstad (demo-site) where you can have self-produced energy. This opportunity (energy production) along with creating awareness of own energy usage and energy usage behaviour (by providing relevant information) contribute to alleviate the challenge mentioned above.

Those who charges their electric vehicles in the demo-site have their own chargers. These chargers can be connected to a charging network. The system provides an equal / righteous opportunity to those who charge their vehicles at the same time. That is, when several vehicles are charged at one particular point of time, then vehicles with high capacity to receive a lot of power do not get the maximum power. Electricity is equally distributed in that context. So, there is a fair charging queue system.
This system (charging solutions) is manufactured by a Norwegian company called Zaptec. The system gives a very good overview of the chargers. Professionals from Arca Nova / Nova Energy can use their computers and see how much every single charger has been recharged. If there is a fault on the charger, then it can also be easily identified in the system. Arca Nova considers this system as a very good management tool.

A large power cable is placed at the charging area, so that everyone has an opportunity to set up a Zaptec charger at any time. This provides a good opportunity for each individual customer to get an electric vehicle charger in Arca Nova’s projects. Electricity produced by solar energy at the demo, is used in the common areas including charging electric vehicles.

The following users will find this innovation useful:

The function of the energy manager (the procedure) can be used by other developers or provide inspiration to establish similar functions to manage energy.

How has syn.ikia project impacted the development of this solution/ process/ tool?

Arca Nova had had the tool ELVACO before syn.ikia started. They started using it (started with the first installation of the system) probably almost 5 years ago (that means, 2019). Then they adapted it in a way to suit syn.ikia. So, ELVACO is just the control system – in a way a master gateway, that the company customized / tailored in relation to what kind of information that syn.ikia wanted. The company made the adjustments specifically regarding sending /communicating the energy data. In addition, syn.ikia has given a good opportunity to Arca Nova to gain more knowledge and experience in sustainable construction that will be utilized and further developed in the future.

How can this innovation be used beyond syn.ikia project?

The experience that Arca Nova gained in modifying / adjusting the tool ELVACO in accordance with the requirements of syn.ikia could be useful in the future – specially, to comply with new requirements from new projects.
The function of the energy manager (the procedure) can be used by other developers or provide inspiration to establish similar functions to manage energy.

Contact person:
Ole-Edvin Utaker, Arca Nova