Home Property Australia The Changing Face of Community Energy Networks

The Changing Face of Community Energy Networks

  • December 11, 2018

The Changing Face of Community Energy Networks

 

Within the last year, the energy industry has been a hotly discussed topic in the media, by the general public and now as a deciding factor in government elections.

The Victorian elections saw energy affordability and the move towards more sustainable resources as a critical motivator to sway public opinion, with promises being made by both parties to invest more into renewable energy to facilitate lower energy prices for customers and moving towards a more sustainable future. 

With public opinion calling for more environmentally friendly means to generate, store and use energy, the next few years in the energy industry are going to see significant changes in the technological advancement of renewable energy resources and their adaptability into our everyday lives.For the last decade, the go-to model for implementing renewable resources has been established for freestanding homes to include Solar PV systems on rooftops that assist with lowering household bills with the energy that these single dwellings generate. However, as the trend to urban living increases in metropolitan cities with multi-tenant developments meeting the needs of the growing population, the technology has adapted to also offer renewable solutions to multi-tenanted properties.

To implement these technologies within multi-tenanted properties such as apartment buildings, retirement living villages and shopping centres, Embedded Networks are the base technology needed for this technology to be implemented.

Embedded Networks act as Community Energy Networks by taking the aggregated energy usage of a development through a single point to purchase electricity from the wholesale market at wholesale rates. By combining the usage of an entire development together, this allows the community to share in the benefits that buying energy at wholesale prices provides. 

When Solar PV is implemented into a development, the site is generating its own electricity that can be fed back into the common areas to assist with reducing Owners Corporation fees and increasing the green star rating of the building. With the increasing advancement of battery storage technology, the energy generated from Solar PV Systems can now be stored and utilised for those times when the sun isn’t shining or to off-set peak time energy usage of the development. With the capabilities of battery storage and Electric Vehicle Charging stations, community energy networks allow a move toward the futureproofing for the longevity of a development and empowering the residents of these developments with lower energy costs. 

As Australia’s largest Community Energy Network Provider, WINconnect is committed to moving towards a more sustainable future by supplying those within our networks with renewable technologies and future-proofing for the technological advancement we expect to revolutionise the energy industry and benefit our customers.