Having each received a £5,000 cash Net Zero Home Grant, the finalists will work with Sustainable Ventures for the next three months to fully explore the potential impact of the technology in creating net zero homes. After developing design and cost trials, each company will present its business case for funding to Schneider Electric. The successful start-up will work closely with Schneider Electric to develop and scale their solution and achieve mass-market deployment, with access to Schneider’s extensive channel and partner network.

The four finalists are:

• Connected Kerb – The smart cities and EV charging platform integrates both power and data at kerbside to support electric and autonomous vehicles, and the application of advanced IoT technologies. The company aims to create flexible products that make EV charging at any home viable. Its EV Hub is built into the fabric of the home but with the smart capability of a street charger. This reduces running costs, takes strain from the grid and creates a standardised approach to EV provision.
• ev.energy – A smart platform that manages EV charging, automatically optimising for a greener, cheaper charge. Ev.energy’s solution aligns charging times with renewable generation and electricity market prices. This enables zero-carbon charging, load management and peak shaving, saving customers on their energy bills and reducing the carbon emissions from charging their EV. With 125 million EVs set to be on the road by 2030 and 80% of all users charging at home, ensuring energy is used efficiently will be crucial in creating a net zero home.
• Powervault – A new home electricity storage product which helps all households use energy more efficiently. The solution enables households to store solar energy or cheap energy from the grid, effectively enabling homeowners to cut bills and even earn an income for supporting the grid. Optimising EV charging, reducing smart appliance costs, maximising PV energy, lowering CO2 emissions and helping the grid, the Powervault could play a central role in the net zero home.
• Sero Group – The company that build, retrofit and optimise low and net zero homes. Sero deliver comfort, convenience and cost savings to residents, optimising homes to align with energy grids with smart controls, metering and monitoring. The company’s vision is to become part of the UK’s energy infrastructure, aggregating homes to improve reliability, life span, robustness and ultimately make all homes net zero.

“Reductions in UK household energy use have stalled. We need to accelerate the journey to a net zero home as a matter of urgency,” said Katie Mills, Head of Innovation at Schneider Electric. “The companies and solutions that have been chosen enable homes to become smarter, more connected and more efficient. They provide consumers with the ability to optimise household energy use, without negatively impacting their daily lives. By collaborating with these innovators, we believe we can make huge strides to making the net zero home a reality.”

Arsha Branson, Head of Innovation Services at Sustainable Ventures commented, “We’ve been delighted by both the number and standard of the entrants to the Net Zero Home Programme. The initiative has seen some of the fastest growing, most innovative UK companies demonstrating their technology and its potential. We look forward to working with them over the next three months to make their vision a reality and helping to usher in a new era of net zero homes.”