Energy Efficiency

African countries face the need to meet a fast-growing energy demand but its nations can pick from a portfolio rich in renewable energy sources, including water, sun and wind, among others. Building on experience gathered around the globe Africa can design it’s energy sector for the future.

Half of the continent has solar radiation intensities of more than 7000 kWh/m²/day, the perfect premise for utilizing solar power. Renewable energy sources offer additionally more independence from fossil material, improved resilience and sustainability.

CheckWatt, one of CNets subsidiaries, offers configurable energy related solutions for different needs. In the last year CheckWatt has extended their business to Europe. The companies expertise and experience is leading in the Swedish market and internationally competitive. CheckWatt is proud to announce that they have entered their first contract in Kenya, which entails the deployment of a new solar energy installation in Kenya. Dan-Eric Archer, VD of the company, supervised delivery and installation of solar meters, real-time measuring at the connection point to the electrical grid, Plug and play production demo on screen himself:

CNets spin-off company CheckWatt is expanding services with solutions to store energy and manage usage intelligently.

The fast growing market of private solar installations and electrical vehicles are followed by extended needs regarding the electrical infrastructure but also offer new possibilities for utilization. In 2019, the market for electric grid ancillary services was approximately 1.5 billion SEK. Svenska Kraftnät forecasts that it will double twice by 2023, driven by the growing share of intermittent power production (solar and wind) within the electricity mix and an increased integration within Europe (regulating power as an export product). Meanwhile the fees for the electrical network infrastructure grow significantly without smarter network solutions, so smart solutions that avoid unnecessarily future costs are needed, a conclusion that the European trade association has come to: “Smart storage and control before cable!”

With already more than 200.000 electrical vehicles registered in Sweden, each about 10 kW on average, these have already the same peak power as 2 nuclear power plants.
Electric cars are fundamentally changing the energy system, and they are rather an asset than a burden. The advantage of electric cars is that they do not have to be fully charged all the time. The effect can be adapted to the needs of the electricity network, cushioning peaks through utilizing off times.

EMS (Energy Management System) is a service for energy-related data and smart control for hybrid inverters (photovoltaic systems with connected battery storage for example) and electric car chargers that can minimize power-related costs locally in the building and perform frequency regulation for Svenska Kraftnät, which generates revenue for the owner.

CNets spin-off company CheckWatt is expanding its product portfolio to meet the growing popularity and needs of electrical vehicles (EVs). Sweden is ranking among the world’s top ten market for best-selling plug-ins since 2015.

In December 2020 a total of 217,704 plug-in vehicles have been registered, 148,889 plug-in hybrids, 62,870 all electric cars and 5,945 all electric vans have been registered in Sweden since 2011. As EVs are actively supported by the government with financial grants and charging at home is cheaper than petrol, diesel or public charging more home owners are looking for smart solutions. CheckWatt does not only want to offer homeowners a solution to charge their cars, but also to manage their electrical home installations, solar installations and to maximize savings reducing power-related costs. Solutions enable users to visualize charging together with other energy-related data. For starters CheckWatt initiated a collaboration with EpSpot and Zaptec, further collaborations are being negotiated.

CheckWatt has closed its financial year 2019. It became the best financial result so far. The revenues grew to 12,5 MSek (2,5 MSek 2018).

CheckWatt AB offers products and IT services within the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency for both private and corporate customers. It is a subsidiary of CNet. Read more at www.checkwatt.eu.