Dallas-based Hover Energy develops technologies that combine rooftop wind and solar power sources with advanced energy management systems to create resilient, self-sustaining power systems that can reduce carbon footprints and energy costs.
Hover said its core product is the Wind-Powered Microgrid, a system that integrates multiple renewable energy sources to create an independent power supply. Their approach aims to make microgrids the primary source of energy, shifting away from centralised electricity grids, thereby bypassing the need for transmission lines and large infrastructure.
“We’re on a mission to turn the built environment into a power source, one site at a time,” Hover CEO & founder Chris Griffin said in a statement. “Most of the current renewables approaches worldwide are focused on massive scale. While that is admirable, the greatest resilience and security is clearly created through distributed generation models. Our collaboration with E.ON is designed to prove the concept of a future-focused power system so we can draw a map towards modernising our distributed grid system.”
The partnership will explore ways to modernise parts of the local electricity network, making use of digital communications, renewable energy sources on community buildings, and smart meter data that can balance supply and demand on local energy networks in real time.
The collaboration will initially focus on the London Borough of Newham, building on other projects in the area, such as E.ON’s solar sharing community energy project in Canning Town, and the UK’s first development of E.ON’s ectogrid heating and cooling network at Silvertown.
Phil McDermott, cities partnership lead at E.ON, said: “One of the benefits of a microgrid is you’ve got solar when the sun is shining, roof-mounted wind turbines for power for when the wind is blowing, and batteries to store excess power ready for when it’s needed. Working with Hover we have an opportunity to create a ‘living lab’ where renewable energy, smart grids, and storage solutions work together seamlessly – combining the best elements of a range of technologies into a local energy system that can create a new energy-independent way of life.”