Encored
Redefining Energy Optimization Through Analytics

Power grids in many parts of the world, including the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, are in their initial stages of moving from one-way power generation and distribution environment to a multi-way world. Houses and commercial buildings—backed by their own solar-powered sources—are in a position now to pump surplus electricity back into the grid. At the same time, power utilities are looking to deploy intelligent implementations of energy storage and distributed solar to reduce the cost of building out new power distribution systems – so called “non-wires alternative” and microgrids. These developments will change the entire energy distribution infrastructure as we know it, requiring new intelligent solutions in energy metering, usage tracking, and management.

“One of the changes we see, particularly behind the meter, is that there are many new energy resources, such as the solar panel and its related energy storage. This means that the traditional one-way energy flow from generation to transmission lines and from substations to numerous customers on the grid is now bidirectional, and multi-node, which is quite complex,” states Jin Lee, CMO at ENCORED.

"We have developed a mathematical foundation to measure power usage, and a well-known demand response measurement formula, which gives a solid mathematical background to the measurement side of things"

While conventional energy meters provided only a small amount of information—which is collected and analyzed manually for the purpose of billing—the immense amount of data generated from today’s bi-directional smart grids need more advanced data analytics to extract valuable information, not only for billing but also to manage and map the status of the energy networks. This requirement has placed data analytics tools at the center of this revolution, making them a powerful weapon in the arsenal of utility companies.

As an energy AI company, ENCORED is perfectly positioned to tackle the challenges associated with these new developments in the energy sector around digitalization. With their innovative solutions that leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and high powered cloud computing, the company solves issues in scheduling, distribution, and optimization of power when it comes to bidirectional and multi-node power transmission.

A Unique Perspective for Maximum Visibility

“Energy information has become the key to unlocking the full potential of smart grids,” says Lee. In the past, consumers simply used energy as they received it at their locations, be it commercial or residential. They could only understand their usage from monthly bills, which provided basic information. However, this is no longer enough, from both the consumer’s and the utility company’s perspective.

The ENCORED solution offers AI-based energy information sharing at any time, any place.

The value in both cases is substantial from an end-customer perspective. “Customers can see more detailed information from ENCORED than any of our competitors,” says Lee. ENCORED’s user interface design is one of the best in the industry, because of the rigorous consumer testing that they do. While many companies only carry out internal testing, ENCORED has performed thorough pilot testing programs with many early adopters in Asia. This has helped ENCORED to improve and perfect their UX/UI.

ENCORED’s ability to make sense of individual appliance energy usage from AMI data through AI also has a significant impact on the specifics of UX/UI design. “We have developed a mathematical foundation to measure power usage, and a well-known demand response measurement formula, which gives a solid mathematical background to the measurement side of things,” Lee adds. The company offers proven references to this fact, which can help utility companies in program design and operations.

ENCORED has worked with several clients, including a large global consumer enterprise that has locations in Japan and Korea, to help unearth hidden energy savings. With software and programs that they designed, the client was able to achieve single-digit savings on energy usage.

ENCORED has also achieved double-digit peak consumption reduction for another client that was facing difficulties in their demand-response area. In the U.S., ENCORED has addressed the similar needs of a few municipal governments. Through ENCORED’s small scale demos/pilot studies using the application, the company was able to change how consumers see the value of such applications in helping reduce the utility expenditure.

The Road Ahead—Bringing Grid Optimization to the Norm

Powered by their success with multiple clients overseas, ENCORED is making good traction in the U.S. The company has been working with several large investor owned utilities, as well as research institutions. “Their interest level has been very promising,” says Lee.

ENCORED finds that within the U.S market, the application of AI and ML for different domains is not necessarily just on the consumer side. Their technology, which is embedded in their product iDERMS, is particularly well suited to supporting cost effective non - wires alternatives for utilities and microgrids. “Companies are evolving the concept of optimization beyond traditional micro-level analytics for a given area,” says Lee. ENCORED can use algorithms that they have developed to bring about specific asset energy optimization. The company has been looking into different ways of energy-saving, moving beyond the conventional methods that tried to push generalized energy-saving trends.

With efforts like this, ENCORED is fast becoming the first of its kind solution in the industry that will create a behavior change in the consumers, utility companies, and ultimately, the entire ecosystem. “We are a group of energy experts, mathematicians, statisticians, psychologists, and computer scientists on a mission to provide a meaningful contribution to society by making electricity a happy resource of life,” Lee concludes.