Mixergy has designed an innovative, smart hot water storage tank that allows consumers to heat only the water they need, in contrast to conventional hot water tanks which heat all or nothing. This saves on energy, cost and carbon emissions.

Energy Systems Catapult utilised our Home Energy Dynamics (HED) simulation tool to compare the performance of the Mixergy hot water storage tank with a conventional storage tank to establish the difference in energy consumption between both systems.

We selected a home from the HED simulation library to match the profile of a home being used by Mixergy in a real-world trial – a semi-detached, 3-bedroom, 2-story steel framed modular-build house – and also tested two different occupancy profiles.

A two-week simulation comparing how HED calculated the performance of Mixergy and deployment of the innovation in the real world.

David White, Head of Commercial Operations, Mixergy, said: “Home Energy Dynamics allowed us to test Mixergy’s product when deployed in a varied ecosystem of products and applications, which is often challenging to model. These insights are extremely valuable when articulating to prospective clients and stakeholders the full impact of deploying smart home technologies.

“We were really impressed with the accuracy of the model and also how it is able to quickly identify the effectiveness of a solution without need for a full laboratory set-up.”

Senergy developed a solar thermal panel designed to deliver affordable heating. Unlike solar PV made from glass, copper and aluminium components, Senergy’s panels are 100% polymer plastic – increasing their thermal efficiency whilst reducing delivery and installation costs.

Currently, Senergy operate as a manufacturer, selling panels as part of a building’s heating system. However, recognising the value of the panel’s aesthetic and structural properties, provides an opportunity to adapt their commercialisation strategy to reach other target markets both in the UK and abroad.

Energy Systems Catapult worked with Senergy via our Energy Launchpad, including:

• Home Energy Dynamics – using our ground-breaking simulation tool, our Modelling experts helped validate the performance of the product with a range of housing types and occupancy profiles to understand the value proposition and economic benefits.
• Digital Energy Fitness Assessment – our Digital and Data team assessed the digital readiness of both the innovation and the business
• Business Modelling Innovation – our experts helped to refine their business model, how they pitch to customers and developed their route to various markets.

Energy Systems Catapult’s support helped Senergy to:

• Validate a plan to compete like-for-like with solar PV, and to integrate the product with other technologies, such as heat pumps and thermal batteries to help reduce heating costs during the winter period.
• Progress the TRL of their product from 4 to 6.
• Win three new pilot customers to carry out demonstrations.
• Find new partners to collaborate, integrating the product into complete home heating solutions.
• Secure £130,000 of funding to invest in progressing the TRL towards commercialisation and build internal capabilities to become investor ready.

Leading Midlands social housing landlord Walsall Housing Group (whg) led a consortium on a two-year InnovateUK-funded project exploring the potential of offsite modular housing construction. Collaborating on the project were Birmingham City University, Energy Systems Catapult, Hadley Group, Northmill Associates, and QM Systems.

The platform-based ‘Designed for manufacture and assembly’ (DFMA) house has components manufactured in a factory using advanced manufacturing systems and transported for assembly on-site. As well as addressing local housing shortages, benefits are expected to include reduced energy bills, new business opportunities and reduced construction costs.

Energy Systems Catapult undertook dynamic modelling assessments of the DfMA houses using our Home Energy Dynamics (HED) tool-kit to calculate the building’s energy and thermal efficiency for various home configurations, building materials, power and heating systems, and occupancy profiles. This helped identify feasible combinations of improvements to building fabric, heating system and control to meet emissions, comfort and running cost requirements without putting unsustainable stress on the distribution networks.

By taking a whole-home approach, including the energy-related behaviour of occupants, HED allows analysis of the impacts and interactions between all aspects of the home’s energy use.

Three house configurations and three levels of heating standards and occupancy profiles were explored. The Gold standard included a heat-pump based heating system with solar PV and battery storage; Silver standard includes space heating (SH) is provided by electric panels, with the domestic hot water demand (DHW) is met by Mixergy hot water cylinder plus solar PV; and the Bronze standard has electric panels for SH and DHW was met by Mixergy cylinder.

The results of the Energy Modelling of Modular DfMA Housing for Walsall Housing Group study were that:

• Significant energy efficiency gains and emissions reductions can be achieved using this innovative housing design;
• The high peak electricity demand in the houses with electric panels, meant if a large number of houses on the same network adopt electric heating, grid reinforcement might be required;
• Integrating solar PV and battery storage system could contribute to lowering the peak electricity demand;
• Employing a heat pump coupled with solar PV and battery storage system delivered the greatest benefits.

The results will feed into Birmingham City University’s knowledge-based engineering (KBE) tool which can be used to select optimal building configurations, materials, and energy management strategies to maximise efficiency and minimise costs.