CURB - Compact Urban Battery Storage System for residential apartments to support demand side response and reduce energy bills by 50%

由于生活成本危机，家庭正在努力维持照明，老年人正在努力在冬天保持温暖。随着能源账单的飙升，这是英国和整个欧洲人民面临的现实。大多数瑞士人和越来越多的英国人一样住在租来的公寓里，他们几乎没有机会利用太阳能技术来帮助降低账单，在过去的12-18个月里，许多人的账单翻了一番。我们生活在一个日益城市化的世界。2021年，38.9%的欧盟人口居住在城市。预计到2050年，欧洲的城市化水平将提高到83.7%左右。这给服务业、房地产和当地基础设施带来了挑战。由于房租上涨和收入缩水，越来越多的人住在公寓里，随着当地电力需求的增加，能源网络的压力也在增加。与此同时，电网已经承受着压力。英国的目标是到2035年，通过安装包括风能和太阳能在内的可再生能源，使电力行业完全脱碳。可再生能源面临的挑战是供应的间歇性，以及如何将其与需求相匹配。这需要大幅增加对电网基础设施的投资，以应对日益增长的城市化和电力供需平衡。该项目旨在开发尖端的家庭储能技术，使公寓和住宅中安装复杂，紧凑，可移动的电池系统能够平滑消费者的需求曲线，从而减少50%以上的账单。智能电池还可以提供一系列平衡服务，主要是额外的存储，为电网降低成本，并以更快的速度使电网脱碳。这项技术可以减少50%的消费者电费支出，对于典型的四人使用（基于典型的使用数据和当前的电力成本），每年节省1200英镑或更多。这个由英国Allye公司、瑞士Negal公司和瑞士研究机构OST公司合作的双边项目，将利用瑞士开发的技术创造一种超高效的双向AC-DC转换器，再加上一个将在英国设计和建造的包含机器学习的复杂电池系统，有可能降低全国的能源成本，特别是针对公寓和小型住宅（包括租房者）。同时有助于加速电网的脱碳。

With the cost-of-living crisis families are struggling to keep the lights and the elderly are struggling to keep warm in winter. This is the reality facing people in the UK and across Europe as energy bills have surged. Most of the Swiss population live in rented apartments as do an increasing number in the UK, there is little chance they can take advantage of solar technology to help lower bills which in the last 12-18 months have doubled for many.We live in an increasingly urbanised world. In 2021, 38.9 % of the EU population were living in a city. Europe's level of urbanisation is expected to increase to approximately 83.7% in 2050\. This places a challenge on services, properties and local infrastructure. As more people live in apartments, due to the cost of rent and a squeeze on incomes, the strain on the energy network increases as local electricity demand increases.At the same time, the grid is already under strain. The UK aims to fully decarbonise the power sector by 2035 through the installation of renewable energy sources including wind and solar. The challenge with renewables is the intermittency of supply and matching that to demand. It requires a significant investment increase in grid infrastructure to cope with increasing urbanisation and the balancing of supply and demand of electricity.This project aims to develop cutting-edge home energy storage technology that will enable the installation of sophisticated, compact, movable battery systems in apartments and houses to smooth out the demand curves for consumers thereby reducing their bills by over 50%. Smart batteries could also provide a range of balancing services, primarily extra storage, for the grid to reduce costs and decarbonise the grid at a faster rate.The technology could reduce consumer electricity bills paid by 50% saving £1200 a year or more for a typical 4-person usage (based on typical usage data and current costs for electricity).This bi-lateral project between Allye in the UK, Negal in Switzerland, and OST, a Swiss research institute, will create a ultra-efficient bi-directional AC-DC converter using technology generated in Switzerland, plus a sophisticated battery system incorporating machine learning which will be designed and built in the UK, has the potential to bring down the cost of energy across the country with a specific focus on apartments and small homes (including renters), while helping to accelerate decarbonisation of the electricity grid.