CityLearn Challenge

How do you know when to use energy from your solar panels or from the grid? Nowadays, many buildings are equipped with solar panels that are connected to batteries. When all energy needs in one building are met and the batteries are filled, excess energy is returned to the grid. The other way around, buildings can use energy from the grid when the solar panels do not provide enough energy. Next to this, at certain moments during a day there are peaks in energy demand and at other times there are peaks in generation of solar energy. So, without a way to store energy, more energy plants would be needed, just for these energy usage peaks.

To unlock the full energy potential while reducing emissions and energy costs, an algorithm that will predict the optimum combination of the use of the grid and solar panels is needed. This is exactly what Epoch is going to do in the CityLearn Challenge! As we are working on the competition, we will update this blog with interesting news and information.