TEXT IN ESTONIAN BELOW
Smart Load Solutions OÜ (SLS) raised capital for development from the green investment focused Sunly Startup. With the investment SLS is developing a new function for their smart thermostat, which allows the consumers to rent out their floor heating to power grid operators, who will use it to stabilise the power grid.
Co-founder of SLS, Madis Uuemaa says he is happy to partner with Sunly Startup for several reasons. “These are investors who have been operating in the renewable energy sector for several years already. They are aiming to develop technologies that make power generation and consumption more environment-friendly,” Uuemaa said. “Furthermore, it is a sign for us that Estonia is willing to contribute to the digitalisation of power grids like it has done in other sectors.”
Also CEO of Cleantech ForEst Erki Ani sees with that step a huge growth in interest towards cleantech startups and what is most important, great interest from investors. Backed by public funding toward more hardware startups which kind of makes the future a bit brighter.
Picture: Handshake deal between Madis Uuemaa from SLS and Priit Lepasepp from Sunly Startup.
“Future electricity grids need to find a solution for intelligently managing and storing electricity consumption. Themo thermostat developed by SLS is a good example of successful resolution of this task. Something that both electricity consumers and network operators will benefit from,” Priit Lepasepp, Member of Board at Sunly Startup, commented on the news. He pointed out that the investment is particularly important because the product range of SLS helps the consumers to partake in a market which so far was unavailable for home consumers, without giving up any comforts.
With the help of the investment, SLS is planning to develop an intelligent network of thermostats that would take into account demand response signals of the utilities and power grids, in addition to electricity price. “The new development allows home owners to make their electrical heating and heat generation work for the power network as well and thereby decrease their monthly electricity bill by up to 60%,” Uuemaa stated. He added that as the flexible management of electrical heating helps smooth out the peaks in consumption and renewable energy production as well as low points in power networks, both consumers and network operators will benefit.
The floor heating thermostat Themo developed by SLS and already launched on the market, relies on thousands of data points to make the right decision on when to consume electricity. Themo is mobile phone controlled, observes the electricity price and the outdoor weather, and lowers electricity costs up to 60% due to its intelligent management system. On average, Themo reduces heating bills by 8 euros per square meter a year.
Picture: In purple: the cost (eur) for floor heating after optimization. In green: the win of optimization (eur).
Smart Load Solutions is an Estonian start-up company with a vision to ensure sustainable and environment-friendly power consumption through the development of smart home technologies. Themo floor heating thermostat is the first thermostat to use artificial intelligence and information from the electricity market to find the perfect balance between user convenience and the needs of the power network. SLS was founded in 2014 by three Estonian engineers: the brothers Madis and Märt Uuemaa, and Allan Puusepp. In 2015, Smart Load Solutions participated in the Ajujaht TV-show and earned the fourth place with its optimisation technology.
Picture: Madis Uuemaa and his team from SLS.
Sunly Startup is an Estonian capital based investor focused on cleantech innovation and investing in startups engaged in the field of renewable energy and electrification. Sunly Startup brings together investors including the former shareholders of Nelja Energia AS, incl. Vardar A/S, IVARD OÜ (Peeter Mänd), AS Vestman Energia (Aivar Berzin), HTB Investeeringute OÜ (Hannes Tamjärv), Solarcom OÜ (Martin Kruus) and Atradius OÜ (Kalle Kiigske).
Eestlaste targa põrandakütte idufirma sai roheinvestoritelt rahasüsti
Smart Load Solutions (SLS) kaasas arendustegevuseks kapitali rohetehnoloogia investeeringutele keskenduvalt Sunly Startup-lt. Investeeringu abil arendatakse targale termostaadile uus funktsionaalsus, mis laseb tarbijatel enda põrandakütet välja rentida elektrivõrgu halduritele, kes omakorda stabiliseerivad sellega elektrivõrgu tööd.
SLS kaasasutajal Madis Uuemaal on Sunly Startup-i kaasamise üle hea meel mitmel põhjusel. "Tegu on mitmeid aastaid taastuvenergia sektoris tegutsenud investoritega, kel on tõsine soov aidata välja töötada tehnoloogiaid, mis muudavad elektri tootmist ja tarbimist keskkonnasõbralikumaks," ütles Uuemaa. "Lisaks annab see meile märku, et Eestis ollakse valmis panustama elektrivõrkude digitaliseerimisse nagu seda juba teistes sektorites tehtud on.”
“Tuleviku elektrivõrgud peavad elektrienergia tootmise juhtimise kõrval leidma lahenduse ka tarbimise juhtimises ja salvestamises. SLS arendatav Themo termostaat on hea näide selle ülesande edukast lahendamisest, millest võidavad nii elektritarbijad kui ka võrguettevõtted," kommenteeris uudist Sunly Startup juhatuse liige Priit Lepasepp. Ta rõhutas, et investeering on oluline just seetõttu, et SLS-i tootevalik aitab tarbijatel ilma mugavusest loobumata osa saada turust ja teenustest, mis seni kodutarbijal on võimatu olnud.
Investeeringu toel planeerib SLS arendada termostaadilahenduse, mis arvestaks lisaks elektri hinnale ka elektrivõrgu tootmise ja tarbimiskõikumistega. "Uus arendus lubab koduomanikel oma elektriküte ja sooja tootmine panna kasulikult tööle ka elektrivõrgu jaoks ning vähendada seeläbi oma igakuist elektriarvet kuni 60%," kinnitas Uuemaa. Ta lisas, et kuna elektrikütte paindlikum juhtimine aitab siluda tarbimise ja taastuvenergia tootmise tippe ning madalikke ka elektrivõrgus, siis võidavad sellest ka teised tarbijad ning võrguettevõtted.
SLS'i poolt arendatud ning tänaseks juba turule toodud põrandakütte termostaat Themo kasutab tuhandeid andmepunkte, et teha õigeid otsuseid, millal elektrit tarbida.
Themo on mobiilist juhitav, jälgib elektrihinda ja välisilma ning tänu intelligentsele juhtimisele maksab tarbija elektrimüüjale kuni 60% vähem. Keskmiselt vähendab Themo kütte arvet 8€/m2 aastas.
Smart Load Solutions OÜ (SLS) on Eesti Start-up ettevõte, mille visiooniks on jätkusuutlik ja keskkonnasõbralik elektritarbimine läbi targa kodu tehnoloogiate arendamise. Nende lipulaevaks olev Themo põrandakütte termostaat on esimene termostaat, mis kasutab tehisintellekti ja elektrituru informatsiooni, et leida ideaalne tasakaal kasutaja mugavuse ning elektrivõrgu vajaduste vahel. SLSi asutasid 2014 aastal kolm Eesti inseneri: vennad Madis ja Märt Uuemaa ning Allan Puusepp. Smart Load Solutions osales 2015. aastal Ajujahi saates, kus pälvis optimeerimise tehnoloogiaga neljanda koha.
Sunly Startup on Eesti kapitalil põhinev ja cleantech innovatsioonile fokusseeritud investor, mis investeerib taastuvenergia ja elektrifitseerimise valdkonna idufirmadesse. Sunly Startup koondab investoreid, kelle seas on endised Nelja Energia AS aktsionärid, sh Vardar A/S, IVARD OÜ (Peeter Mänd), AS Vestman Energia (Aivar Berzin), HTB Investeeringute OÜ (Hannes Tamjärv), Solarcom OÜ (Martin Kruus) ja Atradius OÜ (Kalle Kiigske).
Cleantech ForEst is an Estonian non-profit that started their activity in year 2017 dealing with financing start-ups that develop green/clean technologies, promote environmental education and sustainability topics. Cleantech ForEst has hosted major start-up and accelerator programs such as ClimateLaunchpad, Climate-KIC Accelerator, Climathon and more. To learn more about possibilities of different green technology developments, contact the CEO of Cleantech ForEst Erki Ani by email erki@cleantechforest.ee.
