GridShare Membership Explained
Be part of the future of energy
GridShare
What is GridShare?
GridShare is the software that puts the ‘smart’ in a Moixa Smart Battery or to the Moixa Hub in a Moixa Optimised Battery System.
For homes on a time-of-use tariff, GridShare can identify a home’s energy generation and consumption patterns, look at weather forecasts and review the home’s energy tariff.
Then, based on all the data points, GridShare can generate a personalised battery charging plan to cover the household’s needs**.
With GridShare, there is also the option to unlock your battery to provide energy services to support the grid and enable a new era of sustainable energy in the UK. Every Moixa Battery owner*** has the opportunity to take part in this, through a programme we call GridShare Membership.
How it works
How does GridShare Membership work?
When battery owners sign up to GridShare Membership it allows Moixa to effectively group these batteries and create a Virtual Power Plant, often referred to as a VPP. This enables Moixa to support the UK energy network by sharing the energy stored in your solar battery, or by utilising the available spare capacity in your battery.
At times when the grid is under pressure, for example when there is a high or low demand for energy, Moixa can use our GridShare Members’ batteries to provide support for the grid, this is often called ‘Grid Services’ or ‘Flexibility Services’. Grid or Flexibility Services can help countries create a cleaner and smarter grid because they allow for more renewable energy to be used (less curtailment) and remove the need to put in more grid infrastructure. Through grid services, we can accelerate and support the transition towards a sustainable and net-zero carbon future.
How do solar batteries support the Grid?
Charging Up
When there is a low demand for energy across the network and a surplus of renewable energy being loaded onto the grid.
For example, on a windy, sunny day when fewer people are using electricity and where the wind turbines and solar power are generating lots of clean energy.
- All clean energy produced needs to be consumed or stored, or the grid could become overloaded, causing potential blackouts.
- Before distributed energy storage like smart batteries, one of the only solutions was to limit renewable energy generation capability (called curtailment) such as switching off wind turbines. This meant the UK grid would miss out on potential clean energy and continue to be dependent on traditional energy sources such as gas and coal.
- However, through our smart software GridShare, we can modify the battery behaviour to make it possible for the grid to rely on our members’ batteries to store this surplus clean energy, allowing it to be stored until it is needed, rather than wasted.
Discharging
When there is a high demand for energy across the network but not enough energy being generated.
For example, on a still, rainy evening when there is a low amount of renewable energy being generated but many people want to use electricity.
- At times when there is a high demand for energy, the grid will need to increase its supply.
- Before energy storage like smart batteries, the only way for the grid to meet the high energy demands across the UK was for them to rely on a range of traditional energy sources, which would often have been done through a process that involved burning fossil fuels.
- However, through the added battery intelligence from GridShare, our members can provide a more sustainable option to take the pressure off the grid, by discharging the solar energy already stored in batteries to power their homes or by sending their energy to the grid.
How does it work?
It is still very early days for the grid to request this type of support from devices in homes and is currently only done when there are specific contracts in place. However, as the UK energy system continues to evolve and modernise, additional contracts and mechanisms will enable the use of batteries from the GridShare Membership community.
There are currently only a limited number of contracts and agreements in place to support the grid in this way, along with several test areas, many of which Moixa are involved in.
Which batteries get used for GridShare Membership?
All batteries under GridShare Membership could be used by Moixa if called upon. Currently, only batteries within our contracted areas are used to support the UK energy network. Within this pool of batteries, our GridShare software analyses the state of available batteries to optimally choose which devices will deliver the grid services based on how much energy or spare capacity they have available.
When will the batteries get used?
Depending on the type of grid services the batteries are supporting, there may or may not be agreed timescales about when the batteries will be used. However, if we have a contract to provide grid services within certain time periods, the service may look something like this:
In area X, the local grid may be struggling to stay balanced between 7am–8am, which is when the majority of people get up, get ready and make breakfast. Therefore, the contract may ask us to have our members’ devices ready to power their homes with energy stored in their batteries within this time window, instead of drawing energy from the grid.
This could mean that your battery would be charged from cheap off-peak grid energy overnight (if you have a time-of-use tariff), so you would have enough energy to both power your own home in the morning and also take the strain off the grid.
How will the batteries behave?
Due to the nature of the contracts, devices will need to be prepared to deliver services over the time windows when the grid is most likely to need support. This will mean that at certain times your battery may charge up from the grid to have stored energy in reserve, or it may not discharge the solar energy in your battery to cover your household consumption until the window is over. For example, if the contract says that the batteries may need to support the grid by using energy stored in the battery between 4pm – 5pm, the battery will focus on charging up before 4pm. If the grid requests support through flexibility services, then the energy will be discharged between 4pm-5pm. If the grid doesn’t request support, the energy will then be used to power your home after 5pm. Any savings lost or costs incurred as a result of this behaviour are reimbursed by Moixa based on the calculation below.
Whether your battery is selected to participate actively in the delivery of flexibility services or if you are just signed up to GridShare Membership in readiness of future need, you’re always guaranteed to receive a reward for taking part. This applies regardless of the terms, or the length of the contracts that Moixa agrees with the grids network operators.
GridShare Membership Benefits
By joining our GridShare Membership you will be:
- supporting the evolution of UK energy, building a smarter, sustainable future for all
- maximising the use and uptake of renewable energy in the UK
- reducing the need for grid upgrades in the UK, passing savings on to energy customers
In addition to the above, households who sign up to GridShare Membership receive £50 every year for the first three years of membership.
For households whose devices are used for grid services, Moixa measures and reports on the impact it makes to your usual battery behaviour and then provides reimbursement for any savings that have been lost.
This is calculated by running a simulation of how your Smart Battery would have behaved had it not participated in grid services and calculating any lost savings using either your actual tariff or an assumed tariff rate if you choose not to provide your tariff information.
For example:
Annual cost to you from charging your battery from the grid for a grid services event = £5
Annual cost from having to consume energy from the grid due to the battery being unavailable (being in idle mode in case the grid needs energy) = £10
Annual GridShare Membership reimbursement = £15
Annual GridShare Membership reward = £50
Annual Net Benefit from GridShare Membership = £50
Please note: The above example only relates to battery owners who are signed up to GridShare Membership in an area participating in a grid services contract. The above does not include the additional savings you would make by the battery being optimised for solar energy and time-of-use tariffs when not supporting the grid.
How long is GridShare Membership for?
The energy market is constantly evolving and the market for grid services will continue to evolve. Therefore, our current GridShare Membership contract is for three years. After three years, depending on the energy market, there will be an updated version of GridShare Membership offered to you which best fits the market at that time.
If you choose not to re-sign up to GridShare Membership, your battery will no longer be used to support the grid and you will lose the additional benefits this brings.
Is my battery still ‘smart’ without GridShare Membership?
Yes. Our GridShare software is built into every Moixa Smart Battery and into every Moixa Hub, and this is what optimises the battery to work the best way for your household. When you sign up to GridShare Membership, you unlock an additional opportunity through GridShare which then also optimises your battery to support the UK energy network.
How do I find out more?
GridShare Membership, grid services and the evolution of the UK energy network can raise many questions. If you would like to learn more, call our team on 0161 883 2374 or email your questions to enquiries@moixa.com
If you are a current Moixa Battery customer and you would like to join our GridShare Membership programme, email our Customer Support Team at support@moixa.com.
**Automated personalised charging plans are only available for homes with predictable household consumption patterns, households without predictable consumption can still make the most of a time-of-use tariff through our static charging plans. Battery owners who are opted into GridShare Membership and are located within an active flexibility or grid services area, will also not be able to have an automated personalised charging plan, but their battery can still work with a time-of-use tariff through a static plan.
***Only available to customers who have purchased batteries directly from Moixa. Only select customers who have purchased from third parties will be applicable for GridShare Membership.
Average savings
Check out the table below for more detailed information on average savings across different solar plus battery systems.
3300 kWh
Energy generated
£459
Savings from solar and battery
£50
GridShare reward
£509
First year total benefit
4050 kWh
Energy generated
£515
Savings from solar and battery
£50
GridShare reward
£565
First year total benefit
5500 kWh
Energy generated
£624
Savings from solar and battery
£50
GridShare reward
£674
First year total benefit
BENEFITS STATISTICS BASED ON:
True South facing roof in Brighton with a 40 degree roof pitch generating yield of up to 1100 kWh per kWp per annum. Home Consumes more than 3000 kWh from the grid. Electricity price per kWh is 15p. Assumed Energy Price Rise of 7% per annum. Assumes customer consumes 50% of their solar generation, not including energy fed into the battery. A full kettle boil of 1.5 pints uses 125 watts. All rounded to 0 decimal places.
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