Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 12 | Page 92

/////////////////////////////////////////// INDUSTRY WATCH It will even allow excess electricity from an EV battery or PV system to be traded on the market if prices are high and trading would be beneficial for the homeowner. Moreover, the system is also able to recognise when cheap renewable power is available from the grid, should the electricity produced within the home be insufficient. E.ON will be the first energy company to offer this solution in Europe. “Digitisation, the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence provide us with new opportunities to offer customers increased efficiency and convenience. As a result of our collaboration with Microsoft, we are set to make a step change in the intelligent home sector,” emphasised E.ON Board Member, Karsten Wildberger. He added: “We are presenting a solution that takes all aspects of managing energy at home to a new level. Our solution is based on state- of-the-art technology and will undergo continuous development.” 92 INTELLIGENTCIO Galen Hunt, Distinguished Engineer and Managing Director, Microsoft Azure Sphere, said: “E.ON is delivering on a bold vision to make the world a better place, enabling a future of energy management built on a foundation of secure devices and cloud infrastructure. As such, E.ON understands that deploying only highly secure devices is critical to earning and maintaining the trust of customers. Our collaboration will help ensure the devices across E.ON’s new home energy management solution meet the highest standards of security available.” As vast amounts of information is stored and encrypted in each home’s Energy Management Box, data security is at the core. Data is protected by Microsoft Azure Sphere, Microsoft’s solution for securing devices connected to the Internet. Azure Sphere is made up of three components: Azure Sphere-certified microcontrollers; Azure Sphere OS, an operating system specially developed for secure IoT applications; and Azure Sphere Security Service, a turnkey cloud service that provides ongoing security updates to connected devices to ensure they remain secured as threats evolve. This central connection guarantees that the entire system is much less susceptible to external attacks. E.ON’s product is set to enter a market that is expecting strong growth. Currently, 40,000 smart home systems are sold in Europe every year. According to a study made available to E.ON, the market volume is anticipated to grow to 200,000 units within three years. Should e-mobility usage increase considerably, then even higher growth rates would be expected. Similarly, Enedis, a leading European energy distributor, has entrusted Orange www.intelligentcio.com