The COMMUNITAS pilot at Crevillent (Spain) has reached a key implementation milestone with the successful installation of smart energy monitoring systems. Eight houses have been equipped with Shelly devices to monitor appliance-level usage, and seven collective PV installations have been upgraded with advanced metering on the same technology. These setups are set to allow for real-time data harvesting and smart energy consumption at the community level.
From the point of view of data management, the pilot has laid a good groundwork. Baseline consumption and production data for the El Realengo zone have been collected, and the LV network has been clearly defined under a specific secondary substation. Low-voltage asset data and energy storage data have been furnished in detail, giving a full picture of the infrastructure. All the information collected, like Shelly device data and user consumption data, is now exposed through an API, allowing for sophisticated analytics and integration into upcoming services.
As impressive as these technical achievements have been, the pilot team has not been issue-free on the engagement side either. Individuals have complained of too few follow-up sessions to learn about the benefits of the system or to report updates and solicit feedback. A few households have also struggled to use the ON/OFF functions of the Shelly devices. Engagement has benefited some aspects of the pilot but overall participation is still uneven.
To address these gaps, the following activities will focus on increasing user engagement through co-creation workshops and stakeholder workshops in Work Package 4.
These activities will not only be utilized to collect more feedback but also to make the residents understand how sharing their consumption data is making a contribution to society as a whole, for example, by optimizing local energy management, unlocking flexibility potential, and enabling more fair energy systems.
The pilot in Crevillent is now shifting away from technical deployment towards human-centered participation, attempting to translate early take-up into long-term community commitment.