The global energy transition requires rethinking our electrical systems. The residential sector, which accounts for more than a third of France's electricity consumption, plays a key role in this transformation. At the same time, the rapid growth of residential photovoltaics is turning households into energy producers, creating a need for smart solutions to seamlessly integrate this production into the grid. The "multi-scale demonstrator" project launched by the CEA aims to develop an optimized energy management system to maximize self-consumption, reduce energy use, and minimize costs.
Accelerating the energy transition through the residential sector and innovative technologies
Published on 01/30/2025
Global and European energy transition goals require us to rethink our energy system, particularly the electricity system. This transition is accelerating, driven by the continuous decline in renewable energy costs and a strong push to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Electricity usage is evolving with new types of consumers, greater efficiency, and better consumption management.
The residential sector accounts for more than a third of France’s electricity consumption, with the main end uses being heating and domestic hot water systems, large household appliances, multimedia devices, and the charging of electric vehicles, which is expected to grow significantly.
At the same time, renewable energy is expanding rapidly, especially in the residential photovoltaic sector, as well as in the commercial and industrial self-consumption segments. In France, by the end of 2024, approximately 1 million residential solar systems are expected to be installed, totaling nearly 4 GW of capacity. Among these, 650,000 systems—representing 2.5 GW—operate in self-consumption mode with surplus electricity sales contracts. However, only about 2.6% of French households are equipped with solar systems, compared to over 7.5% in Germany, where 3 million systems are in place.
There is still significant growth potential in France and Germany, as illustrated by Belgium and the Netherlands, where more than 16% and 19% of households, respectively, were equipped with solar systems by the end of 2022.
This expansion is accompanied by new uses, such as self-consumption and self-production through load management, energy storage, and soon, the ability to use electric vehicle batteries bidirectionally. As a major energy consumer, the residential sector is also becoming a key electricity producer, making it a cornerstone of the transition in the electrical system.
This transformation will have an increasing impact on power grids, particularly at the local distribution level.
It is essential to anticipate and support this evolution of the electrical system to fully harness its potential and maximize its economic and societal benefits.
In 2024, we launched a three-year program to implement the "multi-scale demonstrator" project. This initiative aims to develop a scalable Energy Management System (EMS) that enables deployment, testing, and performance analysis at different demonstration scales and energy community topologies: Residential, Neighborhoods, and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) centers.
The goal of this optimized Energy Management System (EMS) is to:
- Reduce energy consumption by using energy more efficiently: scheduling heating for better comfort, optimizing lighting, and turning off standby power for electrical devices.
- Maximize self-consumption by shifting loads to favor the use of locally produced renewable energy.
- Minimize energy costs by adjusting consumption to times when electricity prices are lower.
In 2024, we designed and implemented the physical infrastructure of this residential-scale demonstration project using one of the houses in our experimental platform, which is equipped with:
- 6 kWp of photovoltaic production on the roof and façade
- A 10 kWh battery coupled with a 10 kW inverter
- A bidirectional charging station developed by CEA, compatible with the CHAdeMO protocol and tested on an electric vehicle
- An electric domestic hot water system
- Six electric convectors for heating
- Electric shutters
- A load profile emulator for major household appliances (e.g., dishwasher and washing machine)
All components are managed by a monitoring and control system using standard communication protocols, connected to an EMS developed by CEA through an open-source home automation solution.
Everything is in place for 2025, when we will focus on implementing a digital platform to develop the optimized EMS, ensuring it meets our objectives, deploying it, and testing it on our experimental platform at the residential scale.
**Figure 1: Residential-scale experimental platform – Experimental house in Reinforced Concrete (I-BB)**
Figure 2: V2G solution "made in CEA" compatible with the CHAdeMO protocol.
Figure 3: V2G solution successfully tested on a NISSAN LEAF in Grid to Vehicle (G2V) mode and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) mode.
