Smart insight, smart saving by Ipsum Energy

Thanks you very much for your time to judge our proposal and make us semi-finalist. Below we answer your questions. We will add the answers where possible in our proposal.

One respond to the Novelty rating. We do appreciate the score of 1 star since the idea to disaggregate energy data is not new. The novelty of our concept is the fact that we are able to disaggregate Smart meter data and classify up to the appliance level. Also this idea might not be new but the fact that we achieved to develop an algorithm of this quality is brand new and ground breaking.

The response of customers does differ per region. Different regions will have different costs for electricity and we expect that in e.g. The Netherlands the saving money is more relevant as in a region where costs of electricity are less important e.g. Texas. Our approach will be tuned to the market. Customers will respond to the insight which is suddenly available at a very low costs. When was the last time you bought something with a ROI < 6 months? We use the existing infrastructure of smart meters and based on numbers from EPRI http://e3tnw.org/Documents/NILMs%20Showcase%20Aug2013.pdf our solution is about 20% of the costs of existing solutions. Different customer will need a different approach: saving money, saving the planet, comparing to your peers or neighbors. And if there is a reward every month or quarter in cash for good performance change will accelerate and maintain over time.

Our solution is in our back-end. The only hardware needs is a 'mailbox' transferring the data to our backend. In the Netherlands we use a wired / WIFI solution. In the USA, France and UK it will be Zigbee. In Germany a partner developed German specific hardware. Every country needs a specific approach as the meters are country or region specific. Once we have a consumer connected (takes 3-5 minutes in the Netherlands) we will inform the consumer in a mobile app. We provide insight, we classify the appliances with consumption based on their smart meter data. With push notification and personalized tips we will keep them engaged. At the start no change is required. We see after the initial results change does come. E.g. we have a group of a Dutch client with idle consumption between 10W and 740W, and an average of 165W. Our messages in the beginning are targeted to reduce idle consumption and based on initial results we see impact is evident. In the Netherlands 740W idle does cost 1400 euro per year, while you are sleeping or in the office. 

The 12% figure is based on a Stanfort study IS DISAGGREGATION THE HOLY GRAIL OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY? THE CASE OF ELECTRICITY by K.Carrie Armel.  That study proves 12% is possible if you provide feedback on the level Smart insight by Ipsum does. Real-time, appliance level, tips and recommendations. E.g. we can let the customer know that his current appliance is under performing and offer alternatives. See page 6 http://web.stanford.edu/group/peec/cgi-bin/docs/behavior/research/disaggregation-armel.pdf

If we compare our solution to competition we see clear differences on key aspects. 

1. Cost. Our solution has the lowest costs. Above mentioned study by EPRI shows a lowest cost of 150 USD for a 5 year contract. We can offer 5 years at 30 USD per year. 

2. Ease of installation. 3-5 minutes. Many solution not using the smart meter connect to the electrical wire and as a consequence require electrical knowledge, high risk or an installer @75-100 USD

3. Automatic classification. We classify more appliances with our algorithm as most offerings. In many cases of competition the consumer will see Appliance 15 and than the consumer has to do classification?!?!

4. Real-time. Smart insight by Ipsum has max 1 minute delay. Many solution are not that close to real-time with their feedback. We see some of our competitors use statistics instead of real usage of an household.

Our proposal is solely based on Ipsum Energy. Above differentiators make the implementation and scalability possible. We do not believe that in initial investment of >200 USD will create the change needed to reduce CO2. We offer customer in the Netherlands the option to purchase for insight for a short and long term. 12 months insight is below 50 USD.

Kind regards,

Paul