A smartphone and tablet app for end-user energy management and savings, PEAKapp, or Personal Energy Administration Kiosk Application, will increase integration of smart meters to enable consumers to monitor their instant consumption and gauge how to use energy more efficiently, chairman of the Association of Electricity Distribution System Operators, ELDER, told Anadolu Agency.
Serhat Cecen, chairman of ELDER, the umbrella association of Turkey's 21 electricity distribution companies, said that PEAKapp is one of their two projects that received a grant from the European Commission Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
Cecen shared that ELDER in a combined effort with the whole sector, aims to make energy efficiency a part of daily life.
'PEAKapp is a project which will contribute to this aim. In the coming years with the growing number of smart meters, PEAKapp is expected to be one of the most used applications,' he said.
PEAKapp derived from a three-year Research & Innovation project. The PEAKapp consortium is composed of organizations including electricity retailers, two software developers, research and innovation centers, universities, and ELDER, the electricity distribution umbrella association as well as Turkey's Baskent Electricity Distribution Company.
Cecen explained that PEAKapp provides end-users with a wide range of methods to apply energy efficiency both through the application and via social network integration.
'It will work with social network integration and includes some games. Consumers will be able to monitor their instant electricity consumption as well as learn to use energy in a more efficient manner and share their experiences on social networks,' he said.
According to the PEAKapp website, the app will offer individualized saving opportunities rather than awaiting for consumers' request for information on discounts.
The app will include a tariff structure offering discounts during peaks of electricity production from renewable energy resources as a way to enable household consumers to reduce their personal carbon footprints.
PEAKapp will also launch the first dynamic pricing system to the household energy market allowing electricity retailers to offer saving benefits of lower-priced electricity produced from renewables during peak times - one of the app's main objectives.
A promotional event at a conference in Vienna in November showcased the success of the PEAKapp, based on testing that was carried out by an Austrian firm on 1,000 household users throughout a year, Cecen said.
By Nuran Erkul Kaya
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr