- Promotion: 20 % of total cost
- Timing of Funding: 2014 until today
- Object of Funding: Smart metering project for visualizing electricity consumption and testing time-variable tariffs, for controlling and monitoring consumption in the household (smart home) with the aim of increasing energy efficiency, and the recording and visualization of electricity generation from a photovoltaic array.
- Target: Development and field testing of "smart" technologies against the backdrop of sales and commercial suitability and energy industry application possibilities
PORTA is for the Pfalzwerke the first project in which a completely new product, with previously unknown technology, new partners and new requirements, was rolled out to selected test customers in a defined test market and examined not only for its technical suitability, but also for its sales and commercial suitability and its potential for use in the energy industry. As part of the field test, 400 customers in the test region of Mutterstadt were offered the PORTA product in three versions:
- PORTA: Smart metering through a digital electricity meter as well as visualization and provision of metering data via customer web portal
- PORTA for me: PORTA functionality + "smart home" components for controlling and monitoring your own household via customer web portal or apps for iOS and Android
- PORTA for me PV: PORTA for me + a second digital electricity meter for the acquisition and visualization of electricity production of a photovoltaic array.
The course of the field test can be roughly divided into three phases:
Within the scope of "Setup and Installation" (September 2014 - February 2015), one of the main tasks was the setup, installation and linking of backend systems of the project partners.
Operation" (February 2015 - June 2015) was primarily characterized by further adjustments to the system and hardware. During the same period, customer campaigns were carried out via the PORTA web portal, such as online surveys or special tariff offers for electricity purchases. For example, time-variable tariffs were tested for the first time. For example, customers were offered a discount on the electricity price explicitly over the Christmas period. These offers were well received.
No further technical or system changes were made during "regular operation", which has been ongoing since July 2015. The system is running in stable operation.
Conclusion: Important experience was gained in all core areas (e.g., product management, IT coordination, data security, quality requirements). These insights and the knowledge built up by the project organization now enable Pfalzwerke to make decisions for energy industry deployment options.
