The ChargeSync Household Smart Box - an intelligent energy storage system

Energy storage and the ability to balance supply and demand at any given time is central tothe successful evolution of a low carbon electricity system to allow for grid flexibility andstability and to cope with a variability of supply from intermittent renewable generation.Community and Residential Energy Storage (CRES), although an emerging segment withinenergy storage systems has the potential to deliver significant benefits including thesmoothing of peaks in electricity demand and voltage support with a global market forsystems in this space predicted to grow from $19.2 million in 2012 to more than $872 millionin 2022. To date the majority of CRES technologies have centered on Local Generationnotably solar with commercial uptake limited principally by product cost & technical viabilitywith some of the challenges recognized as efficiency, response rates and thermal management.To address the need for improved management of demand at a domestic level, ChargeSyncseek to develop a cost effective, intelligent energy storage system with demand managementcapability that will overcome the main barriers associated with other forms of CRES. Aimedspecifically at the domestic market, the proposed ChargeSync smart box will predict, coordinate and optimise mains energy use within homes, deploying stored energy whenrequired and reducing peak loads and offering a plug-and-play solution for existing ACcircuits. The system will also have the ability to coordinate many storage devices together, optimising domestic energy use on the grid. Representing a key step change in energyintelligence and storage, the project has the ability to deliver savings, of up to £175 perhousehold per annum (1/3 off the cost of the average electricity bill), improving resilience at adomestic level for short periods as well as providing improved demand flexibility.