VoltCloud: Bringing the power of the Cloud to a revolutionary renewable home battery

Project Information

VOLTCLOUD

Grant agreement ID: 816560

DOI

10.3030/816560

Project closed

EC signature date 4 May 2018

Start date 1 May 2018

End date 31 August 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

VOLTSTORAGE GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VOLTCLOUD (VoltCloud: Bringing the power of the Cloud to a revolutionary renewable home battery)

Reporting period: 2018-05-01 to 2018-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

VoltCloud will revolutionise the renewable energy storage market by implementing its world’s first affordable home use Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Energy Storage System (VRFB) & (BESS) VoltStorage (VS). We will be first to market a low-cost, easy to install internet-enabled VRFB-BESS system to allow aggregation with other VS+VC owners to form a VPP community, fostering mass take up and scalability to expand with the growing PV renewables market. The objectives of this Feasibility Study are to evaluate the technical, commercial and financial feasibility of our system, and develop a business plan to decrease risks and assure a future commercial success.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the technical side, we analyzed the requirements to take our system to TRL-9.We have finalized the VC server platform & database set-up, prepared the control software within the VS smart batteries and established the communication protocols together with their functionality and security measures. We have prepared a technical risk assessment plan for the interconnection of multiple batteries within the VC software. Finally, we structured a complete work plan for the future phase 2 project. Commercially, we have analyzed our target markets (energy storage world market, grid services and renewables energies markets). We have also defined our environment through a PESLTLE analysis, execute an FTO study, and performed a competitive analysis. Financially we have quantified the needed investment to take our system to TRL9, together with a complete financial forecast to confirm the potential future profitability. As a result of these actions, we have developed a complete commercial strategy plan.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We conclude that business viability has been proven as we will satisfy our end-user requirements with a low-cost and easy to implement solution ensuring mass take-up. We will offer VS + VC with triple the number of deep discharge cycles of any competitor in the domestic arena. This will benefit the end user financially over the life cycle by saving money on energy purchase price from the grid and saving 20%+ on electricity charges and will reduce the negative environmental impact by lowering carbon emissions for each KW of fossil fuel production offset. Our FTO analysis has highlighted that VS+VC does not impinge on the work of others. Our latest generation product has proven technical feasibility. All the indicators combined are positive and have led us to the conclusion that we should proceed with VoltCloud

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