Hi All
We would like to seek your feedback on another potential Open Source DC bi-directional meter for active trading in a solar peer-to-peer microgrid. Our second and most important core evaluation criteria after clearing internal evaluation is whether it meet the needs of the sector. We would like to know if you will adopt this kind of solution to manage your business operations, should this solution get funded and available as open source.
Share your feedback directly in the forum here for everyone to see and participate.
These are the questions we are trying to answer:
1. Would the list of deliverables be sufficient for you to adopt this innovation?
2. How disappointed would you be if we did NOT go ahead in developing and open sourcing this innovation?
e.g. Very disappointed, Somewhat disappointed, Not disappointed
3. Can you share potential scenarios when this innovation would NOT work for you?
Anything else we should know?
Open source Innovation Description
Goal: Open-Source DC bi-directional meter for active trading in a solar peer-to-peer microgrid. This device is a DC electricity meter that enables peer-to-peer electricity exchange between households as well as small businesses. In rural areas, the so formed DC peer-to-peer electricity grid integrates with solar energy systems and allows the same to sell electricity actively between meters under real time accounting based on a mobile money integration layer.
Proposed Deliverables 1. Hardware files via repository [Gdrive, Altium-share or Git]
A. Powerboard
1. Schematic Design Files (Altium editable and pdf)
2. Board Design Files (Altium editable)
3. Gerber production files
4. Transformer ordering details (pdf)
5. BOM with Mouser links (excel)
B. HMI-IoT Board
1. Schematic Design Files (Altium editable and pdf)
2. Board Design Files (Altium editable)
3. Gerber production files
4. BOM with Mouser links (excel)
3. Mechanical
1. Mechanical drawings (Fushion 360 editable stepfiles, pdf)
2. BOM with Mouser links (excel)
4. Integration
1. Box build BOM (excel)
2. Assembly SOP (word, pdf)
2. Firmware files via repository [Github or beanstalk]
A. IoT functionality (ESP32)
1. Option 1 : Debugging software (firmware and software expert required)
2. Option 2: IoT with webhook for AWS (only software expert required)
3. Option 3: IoT with webhook for Innovator Company dashboard (plug and play but with Innovator Company licensing)
B. DC_DC controller (TI DSP)
1. Integration with SHS battery, Sell up to 500W, Buy up to 500W, buying with constant current control, grid voltage max 80V.
C. Production integration
1. Production SOP (word, pdf)
2. Production cloud programming unit (hardware, firmware, SOP)
This looks very exciting and publishing it could be really helpful for other projects/companies to get started faster.
I’ve got some questions for better understanding:
The actual device will be the DC/DC converter that converts between a DC grid and a (lower-voltage) battery and not “only” a meter, correct? Which other functions does it have? How does it integrate with SHSs?
What sort of communication is used? The ESP32 supports bluetooth and WiFi.
Which license will be used for hardware and firmware?
General remark: It would be nice to have open source hardware developed with open source tools as much as possible. Altium is very expensive and small companies might not be able to afford it, so KiCad would be a better solution.
We currently have an request from local government/ municipality to deliver a solution to a community here in South Africa. The endorsement also looks to expand into further communities if successful.
The elements we are trying to POC in this community project called RASTA are the following:
P2P energy sharing
P2P trading
IOT integration
Access to the trade platform via an app (Android/ IOS)
A management consul layer for the RE Service Provider
The Tokenisation of a Digital Asset
It would helps us tremendously, if we did not have to recreate the wheel on these core components
Thanks Murray for your feedback on the proposed solution. Highly appreciative of your feedback in length. so does the list of all deliverables listed above will be sufficient for you to re-create it at your side ?
Thanks for your questions! Answering 1 by 1 below:
“The actual device will be the DC/DC converter that converts between a DC grid and a (lower-voltage) battery and not “only” a meter, correct? Which other functions does it have? How does it integrate with SHSs?”
The SOLbox comprises:
Power board
DC-DC converter
Usage port that connects to SHS
Grid-ports that connect to other houses
Bi-directional Meter
IoT-HMI board
Casing and box built components
“What sort of communication is used? The ESP32 supports bluetooth and WiFi.”
IoT-HMI contains an ESP32, including WIfi and BLE HW, the FW will only have capabilities for WiFi included
IoT-HMI has a TAG connector PAT that is used primarily for flashing, but could also be used for communication.
The power-board and IoT-HMI board are connected to each other through a ribbon cable
The power-board hosts a DSP, there is an extensive port (40pins) to facilitate production steps and testing
“Which license will be used for hardware and firmware?”
We target MIT licence for Hardware files and Firmware files, allowing commercial and other usages.
“General remark: It would be nice to have open source hardware developed with open source tools as much as possible. Altium is very expensive and small companies might not be able to afford it, so KiCad would be a better solution.”
The designs are done with Altium, we can make KiCad files available as well as an export of the Altium.
In addition, gerber and pdf files will be made available for users only interested in read and manufacturing.
Thanks @Hannes also from my side. That answers all my questions and I agree with @murray.peterson that it would be very nice to get this project published as Open Source Hardware.
@martinj Is this the solution that you guys are developing for your business operations or exploring sourcing of simple plugin solution from the market to cover business needs.
We are awaiting for more feedback from the companies similar to yours to gauge the interest in such innovations. We are also engaging with company proposed the solution for more details on the solution deliverables. Will keep you posted on this.
@AartiM Yes, we are developing a very similar solution at Libre Solar together with Scene Connect. If it had been open sourced 2 years ago, it would have saved us quite a lot of development effort. But now we already have two pilot DC grids up and running towards the end of this month.
As our ecosystem is based on STM32 microcontrollers + Zephyr RTOS and the hardware is developed in KiCad, it would not be directly compatible. I would love to have a look at the control algorithms etc., but we’d most probably not switch to a completely different solution anymore.
In general it’s difficult to judge if one would adapt a solution before you can have a detailed look and evaluate the quality of the code, the documentation, etc.
thanks Martin for this elaborated response and agree companies won’t simply switch to this solution from their existing solution. and any adoption depend on the quality of documentation for it to be incorporated in ones business.
Our hope is that Open Sourcing the building blocks of providing clean energy will prevent more companies like yours to invest their limited and precious resources in R&D development but more on your core operations of distribution.
Hello everyone. Sometime last month, I wrote the team at SolShare asking these questions and was asked to post them here:
Hello SolShare Team,
We are writing to you from everyday gandhis, a peacebuilding organization in Liberia, West Africa. We have worked with communities in the northern region of the country for nearly two decades now. And a great part of our program is dedicated to sustainability. Under this program, we look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint (Please check our website for details of our works: www.everydaygandhis.org). We are very excited about the possibility of working together to extend your innovation to our part of the world and look forward to working together. In the meantime, we would like you to help us with these questions:
Would you be willing and able to help us get this program going in Liberia?
Specifically, would you sell us the little boxes and other equipment, and instructions on what materials we need and how to construct and assemble the equipment ourselves?
What kind of solar panels do you recommend? ie Is there a particular kind we will need?
Where can we obtain the panels?
Can we buy some or all of the equipment from you?
Any recommendations for how to arrange the shipping?
What is the cost for each component, and/or what is the cost for a community hub, i.e. how many people, how many panels, how many boxes, how much and what kind of wiring?
How many households/businesses in the community is a good number to start with?
How far or close do the buildings need to be?
How much capacity can each box maintain and can this capacity be increased?
Would someone be willing to travel to Liberia to help us get set up? Or would you prefer someone from Liberia to travel to Bangladesh?
For those of you already working on technology like this, would you be able to help us if and when you have a working system? Our entity is an organization with no expertise in engineering. Thus, we would not be able to undertake the production of the box. If and when you do have success, are you available to help us explore possibilities in adapting it in our setting?
thanks Varlee for your detailed feedback and subsequent questions.
I will let @Hannes answer your specific questions. However the above innovation is more relevant for the organizations already providing some level of energy access services and this solution will address the gap in their existing portfolio to address the market need.
These are all very good questions! However, they go quite beyond the technology open sourcing that we are looking at here. Should we follow-up bilaterally? contact@me-solshare.com