Lancey Energy Storage
Lancey Energy Storage
Electric space heater with an integrated battery
This month is European proptech month at proptechaweek. The second stop on our tour through the European proptech scene is in the picturesque French Alps, more specific in Grenoble, where Lancey builds a modern age storage heather.
What?
One of the challenges of the energy transition away from the current fossil-based system to renewable energy sources like wind and solar is finding a way on how to cope with the fluctuating nature of these sources. Lancey builds smart electrical heathers that can help to store excess electricity for later consumption. Now heat accumulators aren’t exactly new tech, they were pretty popular in the 80s and 90s optimizing for the lower cost of electricity in off-peak energy periods. Adding a battery and a combination of sensors, connectivity, and smart software Lancey is aiming to make it eco-friendly, cost-effective, and popular in the 21st century.
imagery by Lancey (solar panels not included)
Why
Peak shaving and self-consumption are certainly the way to go to fully harness the potential of renewable energy. With the ability to reinject power to the grid and with the Lancey Energy Management System (EMS) coupled with your building smart meters Lancey heating units are a flexible way to efficiently balance energy demand and production. This means Lancey units can be used as a building stone in moving towards a decentralized smart grid.
The Plug & Play installation ensures that Lancey gives a cost-effective upgrade path to existing electrically heated buildings. Combining ecological progress while also providing comfort in a beautifully designed radiator might be an effective way to reduce co2 emissions.
Why not?
While aligning production and consumption of energy is obviously a plus, leaving possible environmental issues using lithium-ion (luckily recycled) batteries out of scope, an even bigger plus would be reducing energy consumption. Compared to electric resistance heating today’s heat pumps can reduce electricity usage by approximately 50%. So the Lancey units might not be the most efficient way to heat your complete building, but they might be a great way to heat rooms that only need to be heated intermittently.
Who?
After two years of preliminary research and development, Lancey was founded in 2016 by Raphaël Meyer, Gilles Moreau, and Hervé Ory. From here the company grew swiftly, securing $11,3m of funding from ao Engie New Ventures and the European Union, winning several awards and labels for its product.
Who else?
As the Lancey units combine features of a heater and a battery storage solution, naturally the Tesla Powerwall and similar solutions come to mind as competitors. On the heater side of the market most solutions that offer a “smart” version, the smartness seems to focus on controlling the device with an app (boring) which means that Lancey fills an interesting niche with a novel product.
Further reading?
Moving towards a decentralized grid
Things happening
On the 9th of November, we celebrated inventors’ day thanks to this remarkable woman… Interesting podcast with Peter Hutten of Van Wijnen talking about the industrialization of real estate (Dutch)… Do you have an exciting vision on how to build affordable housing? Here is your chance to make it into reality.