Smart circuit breakers to control power

Sweden

Challenge

There is a clear trend towards increasing decentralization of generation on the electricity grid as more and more people generate electricity via solar cells and wind power. This creates imbalances in the network due to uneven production. Such imbalances need to be compensated for if the electricity grid is to work. If the electricity utility, via hedging, can connect to individual homes, an opportunity arises to solve this. Volatility in the networks, i.e. the price difference per hour, is also expected to increase. Therefore, demand will increase for services that can, for example, automatically charge car batteries when the price of electricity is low.

Innovation

There are already products on the market that can completely or partially solve this challenge, however when it comes to fixed installations, such as radiators, it can be difficult to gain control of smart plugs. BlixtTech takes an already existing product and replaces it with a smarter variant. As the switch is updated wirelessly with new software, it is always possible to add on new services. The digital switch also records how much electricity the property’s various devices use and communicates this wirelessly so that the home owner can easily keep track, for example, via a smart phone.

Potential

Beta versions are being tested currently. The potential for connected circuit breakers is very large. Since this innovation is generic, it can disrupt many businesses, but the biggest potential is arguably within the energy sector.