gridX’s IoT platform and gateway are the digital infrastructure on which Soly is able to build digital customer solutions, from their own energy management app to – in the future – virtual power plants. This service extension brings Soly customers numerous advantages: by integrating the energy management solution, all decentralised energy resources (DERs) in several tens of thousands of households will be digitally accessible, connected and controllable in the future.
This in turn will enable energy flows to be intelligently managed, costs to be minimised, and self-consumption of locally-produced renewable power to be maximised. Likewise, dynamic tariffs can be leveraged: the energy management system harmonises solar production, energy consumption and electricity prices in real time, thus optimally coordinating them. The cooperation between the two companies will initially run for five years.
The solar company plans to offer the expanded solution, Soly Brain, in all markets in which it is currently active: Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium and its main market, the Netherlands. The XENON platform’s modular structure allows country-specific requirements to be taken into account and integrated into the solution. New modules can also be added as conditions change over time so that the individual needs of every market are constantly addressed.
Until now, Soly has focused on the installation, commissioning and maintenance of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Increasingly, however, the Dutch company is also focusing on other devices, including batteries and wallboxes. gridX’s manufacturer-independence provides Soly with maximum flexibility to expand their portfolio by integrating additional devices, such as heat pumps, in the future.
Soly was launched in the Netherlands in 2013 with the vision of positively contributing to climate protection. Since then, the company has installed more than 30,000 systems in the Netherlands and beyond.
“Through our work, we are driving sustainable energy production on a large scale, making a relevant contribution to the energy transition” said Milan van der Meulen, Co-Founder of Soly.
The solar company's success story is based on a unique business model: customers can order their photovoltaic (PV) systems quickly and easily in a purely digital planning process. Almost everything is done via the company's own app – from the initial inquiry to the entire planning. Only the installation is carried out physically at the respective location. This approach allows Soly to install and commission rooftop PV systems and other DERs at the customer's site within around eight weeks of the start of planning – normally, at least double or triple this time is required.
“We see ourselves as an internationally active utility company of the future” added Mr van der Meulen.
Image: gridX and Soly teaming up: Tim Steinmetz, Managing Director and CGO at gridX (right), and Philipp Schockenhoff, Account Executive at gridX (left), presented the very first IoT gateway Soly Brain to Soly co-founder, Milan van der Meulen (center), on the occasion of Soly's tenth anniversary celebrations.
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