Case study: an innovative energy ecosystem at home

Peter van Hees, Innovation Manager at KBC, built his house 15 years ago. The decision to buy the plot didn’t take long and construction was complete in record time. As an IT enthusiast, Peter already knew that technology would play a key role in his home. He now has a high-tech energy management system that reduces his energy bills and even earns money. And that's only the start... ‘I see it as my duty to help reduce the amount of energy we consume,’ says Peter. ‘For my own future, certainly, but more so for my children’s future.’

Peter's home has three sets of solar panels:

• Standard solar panels on the garage
• High-efficiency solar panels on the pool house
• Integrated solar panels on the roof of the house

Read about the lessons Peter learned from his experience with different solar panels

All the solar panels are linked to a 7-cell home battery, which looks like a tower of stacked boxes. This is then is connected to a smart control system. The system monitors energy prices, weather forecasts and household consumption patterns to charge and discharge as efficiently as possible. ‘FlexiO does the thinking for me. The system decides when the home battery will charge or discharge based on market prices and our energy consumption,’ Peter explains. This is why Peter has a dynamic energy contract in which the price of electricity changes hourly.

See the benefits a home battery has to offer

The energy in Peter's house is controlled by a home battery and a smart control system, which independently decides when to charge or discharge the battery.

Peter's smart energy management system forms part of the grid balancing network. In other words, his home battery not only stores energy for personal use, it also contributes to the stability of the power grid. The battery sells energy at a favourable price during peak periods and then recharges itself when prices are low. This system saved Peter no less than 2 700 euros in one year. That amount includes the reduction in his energy bill as well as what he gets paid for grid balancing. ‘People underestimate how much you can earn by being smart with energy. Grid balancing enables my system to pay for itself,’ says Peter.

‘The arrival of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology in 2025 means that this kind of smart approach will become even more efficient. Electric vehicle batteries – which are up to five times more powerful than current home batteries – will be able to act as a storage unit for the home and the wider electricity grid. Your vehicle will effectively become a home battery on wheels,’ says Peter.

Peter's house in Hofstade, with integrated solar panels on the roof.

Peter doesn’t like to rest on his laurels. He’s constantly thinking about what else he could change or improve. ‘We bought a piece of farmland next to our garden. It has a barn that will house a flock of sheep, and I also want to install east-west oriented solar panels on its roof. That orientation maximises energy output throughout the day and would make our home even more energy efficient. An east-west orientation provides a wider spread of energy yield, which is the ideal scenario.’

In addition to energy management, Peter and his wife have also invested in rainwater collection. ‘We have two 10 000-litre barrels and one holding 5 000 litres. We use that water for toilets, the garden and cleaning the car. It’s good for our wallet as well as the neighbourhood’s water supply.’

Peter also continues to experiment with new technologies. He is currently training Jarvis – a Large Language Model (LLM) similar to ChatGPT – as a virtual assistant so that he can control his home automation system with speech. ‘I made him slightly arrogant for fun – he's got a bit of an attitude. So when I ask to turn off the lights, he’ll sometimes reply: “It’s about time those lights got a break!”’ (laughs)

In the future, Jarvis will not only control the lights and temperature in Peter's house, it will also learn the behaviours and habits of all the residents: Peter, his wife and their three children. ‘Voice control is going to be revolutionary. Older models, such as Google Homes, can discern your intention from what you say, but your command must be clear and contain only one message. The new models can better interpret what you’re saying and therefore really learn how you live and think,’ enthuses Peter.

But what achievement is Peter most proud of? That would be his home automation system. Not just because it’s technologically impressive, with apps, wall-mounted tablets and voice control, but mainly because it’s used by the whole family. From automatically switching lights and heaters on and off to opening the garage door with an app, technology is not just for gadgets in the van Hees household, it’s a natural part of everyday life. ‘Many people install home automation for the sake of it, but my goal was for everyone in the family to be able to use it in an intuitive way, and that’s been a success,’ says Peter proudly. 

One of the tablets on Peter’s walls. Camera images, the weather forecast, lighting and temperature in the house: everything is monitored. You can even close doors and draw curtains at the touch of a tablet.

In order to enable this home automation, Peter installed as much cabling as possible when the house was built. ‘In hindsight, it still wasn't enough. If I’d included ducting, it would have been easier to fit additional cables and integrate new systems. Technology evolves rapidly and flexible cabling makes a big difference.’

Peter sees innovation as an ongoing journey. His home is never ‘finished’, but is instead constantly evolving into a smart, self-sufficient and efficient living space. ‘You have to keep innovating. Today’s state-of-the-art will be obsolete in five years, but that's what makes it so fascinating.’

Estimated payback period: 6 years

Housing, work, life: they all bring challenges. At KBC, we like to keep you up to date with the latest developments in housing, energy, sustainability and mobility. Read more about the relaxed renovation obligation, learn about more sustainable insulation materials or get house-hunting tips from an estate agent. If you want to invest in energy-saving renovations, work out your energy loan. Curious about how much you could save with solar panels? Work it out in just a couple of clicks.