The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) support the UK government and industry in transforming the energy sector to deliver on the promise of net zero carbon by 2050. ESC are developing the Living Lab 2.0; a first-of-a-kind, agile and scalable real-world test environment for businesses innovating in the home energy market by upgrading homes across the UK to become digitally connected smart-homes.
SysMech have been selected via a competitive tender process to be ESC’s Delivery Partner for the design and implementation of the Cloud based Digital Integration Platform that will be at the heart of the next generation Living Lab.
Living Lab 2.0
This national asset will provide innovators with a safe, affordable, shared space to trial and demonstrate energy products, services and business models with real consumers to de-risk and scale innovations for market. While also providing insights and evidence to help transform market arrangements, policies and regulations – as we move towards a Net Zero carbon future.
Initially it will focus on low carbon heating and transport innovations and the integration of smart controls, electric vehicles and distributed energy technologies. New integrations will be added in response to evolving policy and market needs.
Digital Integration Platform
A critical requirement of the Living Lab 2.0 infrastructure is the development of a cloud-based Digital Integration Platform (DIP) that acts as the intermediary – to intake, manage and analyse huge amounts of data – between the innovations being tested and the wide range of mainstream smart home devices and energy appliances within Living Lab homes.
Based on SysMech Zen product technology, the Digital Integration Platform will be open, and technology-agnostic, providing true interoperability and scalability to enable a range of innovative new products, services and business models to be trialled in hundreds and eventually thousands of UK homes.
The Digital Integration Platform will act like the operating system, allowing innovators to plug in their own software or utilise a ESC option that will be interoperable – physically, digitally, and commercially – with the smart control systems and IoT devices being used by households.