Turning Buildings into Smart Energy Hubs
The FLOW project has successfully transformed a commercial office building in Prague into an advanced energy testbed to demonstrate the future of energy management.
Deliverable D6.3 “Building as a grid with DC microgrid and BTM optimization”
By integrating a highly efficient Direct Current (DC) microgrid alongside the building's traditional AC power, the facility can now seamlessly connect and manage solar panels, battery storage, and EV chargers. This hybrid approach reduces energy conversion losses and paves the way for highly resilient, sustainable buildings capable of supporting large-scale EV adoption.
Key takeaways:
- Buildings as Smart Hubs: the FLOW project transformed a Prague office into a highly efficient hybrid AC/DC microgrid, seamlessly integrating solar panels, battery storage, and EV chargers.
- A “Smart Brain” for buildings: a new predictive Energy Management System anticipates building needs 24 hours in advance, shifting EV charging to cheaper off-peak hours and reacting near-to-real time to sudden changes
- EVs as Mobile Power Plants: through Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) technology, plugged-in EVs can now discharge their batteries to power the office during expensive peak times or grid shortages.
- Workplace Charging Speeds Adoption: installing reliable on-site chargers eliminated employees' range anxiety, driving a remarkable 150% increase in EV adoption at the facility.
- Preventing Grid Congestion: a newly tested multi-port charging platform intelligently balances power between the grid, renewables, and EVs, proving we can support mass EV growth without overloading local networks