What is digital energy?

Digital energy is already transforming our lives in a positive way.

Before smart homes and smart cities, before microgrids and smart buildings, there is energy, specifically digital energy. It is the foundation upon which everything else is built. Just like the world it powers, energy itself is undergoing a profound transformation, an evolution in fact, starting from its production to its distribution in our homes.

In the world of distributed generation, a decentralized energy production system where electricity is generated from multiple small-scale sources, energy becomes intelligent. Its journey is guided by a series of devices that measure, optimize, and communicate with the environment in which we live.

Digital energy: what is it?

The term Digital energy defines this new era of energy. According to the Energy & Strategy Group of the Politecnico di Milano, in its 2017 Digital Energy Report, digital energy refers to the use of digital technologies applied across the entire energy supply chain, affecting all phases from production to sales.

Digital energy consists of multiple components. On one side, there is distribution and measurement, which utilizes hardware and software systems for field monitoring and data processing (including big data) in the cloud. Alongside distribution, there is also energy management within buildings, which includes the smart building and smart home sectors.

In this context, Digital energy means intelligent energy use, achieved through sensors that regulate heating, cooling, and lighting, manage peak loads, detect potential malfunctions, and instantly communicate issues to homeowners or system operators, leveraging digital technologies in the process. The digitization of energy thus promotes conscious energy consumption, helping us avoid waste.

Digital energy and smart grids

Digital energy, the foundation of the smart home, is also the cornerstone of the smart grid. Without digital control - meaning the measurement of production, demand, and energy storage participation - the virtual exchange of energy within a renewable energy community would not be possible.

Digital energy enables prosumer homes, where individuals both produce and consume energy, to function as active nodes in a smarter network that interacts with other prosumers and consumers. Users can actively manage their home energy by aligning their energy needs with their production and storage capacity.

Photovoltaic panels, energy storage systems, and electrical loads become adjustable components that can be used in real-time based on the building’s requirements. Digitalization optimizes self-produced energy through advanced and dynamic control systems, regulating production, storage, and consumption (Demand Side Management). The monitoring and control system receives input data on the operational status of the building’s energy assets and provides output signals to optimize energy flows, improving self-consumption and reducing reliance on the power grid.

This is especially crucial given the new regulations on renewable energy communities and collective self-consumption, which introduce incentives for self-consumed energy calculated on an hourly basis. These incentives reward energy injected into the grid by photovoltaic systems and the energy consumed by associated end users.

The future of digital energy

Sensors, IoT, hardware, and software are all part of a holistic approach to energy, driven by big data, enabling more precise monitoring and enhanced predictive analysis. With digital energy, efficiency can be greatly improved, not just in energy use, but also in managing both home environments and business workflows. The most promising aspects of digital energy include load and consumption management and the ability to quickly respond to malfunctions and outages, providing a dual benefit, enhancing both productivity and safety.