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Abstract

We look for low cost solutions to provide our residential and industrial customers with remote support, assistance and remote site visits to keep serving them more efficiently and safely. Technologies and/or best practices presented must reduce the technician physical visits at customer premises with a high level of interaction and easy installation or use. Solutions should run on the most common personal devices, on the residential segment. We are open to evaluate different solutions targeted on the specific type of customers. 

Description

Enel X is looking for technologies that can make interactions with customers smarter and more efficient, a need already identified but accelerated in order to respond to the new expectations of our clients generated by the COVID-19 situation.

We look for low cost solutions to provide our residential and industrial customers with remote support, assistance and remote site visits to keep serving them more efficiently and safely. Technologies should allow a high level of interaction and easy installation or use. On the residential customer segment, solutions should be able to run on the most common devices that customers already have. On the industrial customer segment, solutions should clearly reduce the cost and time of intervention on the different design, installation and maintenance activities. Solver should focus on technologies/best practices that can reduce the technician physical visits at customer premises. We are open to evaluate different solutions targeted on the specific type of customers, residential and industrial.

Enel X performs a series of activities at customer’s premises.

On the residential sector, the Enel X Relax Formula of our “Enel X Store” (https://www.enelx.com/en/smart-home) includes at least the inspection and installation service for the following products:

  • Boilers and water heaters
  • Air Conditioning systems
  • Photovoltaic systems
  • Storage systems
  • Solar Thermal systems.

 

Other formulas include ordinary maintenance and repair services, in the case of boiler and water heaters, “design” in the case of PV or Storage and Solar Thermal Systems, or disposal of end-of-life PV modules, in the case of PV systems.

On the industrial sector, several cases imply the visit of technicians at customer premises. Enel X can provide a wide range of products to the Industry segment (https://www.enelx.com/en/smart-business), like cogeneration and trigeneration solutions, photovoltaic and storage systems, energy efficiency solutions etc. In all of these cases Enel X offers a “turnkey” service that imply at least the designing, permitting and creation of the plant itself.

The O&M service can be optionally included in the offer (Spot Sale formula) or directly included in the offer itself (ESCO model Formula). All these services normally imply site inspections (i.e. for the design phase) and site visits to provide for the maintenance services. O&M services are also sold separately from the supply of distributed generation assets.

Therefore, we are interested in solutions to digitalize and do remotely as many site visits as possible, reduce the time visit or the number of technicians (for installation and maintenance and for engineering purposes) with the aim to decrease the cost and to be compliant with COVID-19 restrictions providing a safer and more appropriate service to our customers.

 

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS

Submissions must have the following Solution Requirements:

  1. The innovative solution must be able to be applied to usual design, installation and maintenance activities for the Enel X e-home and/or e-Industry products and services or equivalent.
  2. The innovative solution must reduce the cost / the intervention time / technicians number / technicians visits of the single installation and maintenance activities of Enel X e-home and e-Industry products and services.
  3. Any best practices have to be verified and documented (not just an “idea”).
  4. Solutions should have a global context (that is, they would be transferable to different parts of the world).
  5. All solutions must be safe and comply with any local regulations and be sustainable environmentally and economically.
  6. Support Enel’s commitment on SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) with specific emphasis on 3, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13.
  7. The proposed technology should offer Enel “freedom to practice” or be available for potential licensing. There should be no third party patent art preventing the use of specific equipment and materials for their commercial application.
  8. On the residential customer segment, solutions should be able to run on the most common devices that customers already have.

 

In addition, the following qualities are highly desired but not required:

  1. Easy installation.
  2. Reasonable investment costs.
  3. Existing commercial solution (or minimally at a pilot/demonstration stage).

 

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

The submitted proposal should include the following:

  1. Detailed technical description of an approach that can meet the above Solution Requirements.
  2. Rationale for the proposed technology/best practice, including direct cost and man-hours savings.
  3. If a best practice, provide documentation of its proven record and savings.
  4. If available, drawings for any devices, schematics for installation and rough estimations of costs (e.g. investment, operational, maintenance).
  5. Provide information on any known limitations.

 

The proposal should not include any personal identifying information (name, username, company, address, phone, email, personal website, resume, etc.) or any information the Solvers may consider as their Intellectual Property they do not want to share.

This challenge provides contribution to the following sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform our world:

  • SDG 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
  • SDG 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
  • SDG 9: INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE - Invest in infrastructures that promote sustainability.
  • SDG 11: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
  • SDG 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
  • SDG 13: CLIMATE ACTION – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy.
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Challenge rules

All proposers are invited to read carefully the challenges and the Regulation of this challenge, attached below in the Attachments section, before submitting a solution.

By submitting a solution they automatically accept the attached Regulations other than the Terms of Use of this platform.

Explain your proposal clearly and attach documents if needed (max 5 files, 25MB total size).

 

ELIGIBILITY

This Campaign is dedicated to startups, scaleups and SMEs, incorporated in any country, with a technology and/or solution at commercial level (TRL ≥ 7).

 

CHALLENGE, AWARD, IP RIGHTS

This is an electronic Request-for-Partners (eRFP) Challenge. The Solver will write a preliminary proposal to be evaluated by the Seeker with the goal of considering a collaboration

All intellectual property rights, if any, in the idea or concept demonstrated by the Proposed Solution will remain with the Solver. 

 

DEADLINE

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (Central European Time) on November 30th, 2020.

Late submissions will not be considered.

Specific regulation in the CSA attached at the bottom of this page.

What happens next?

The Enel Innovation Hubs team will evaluate the Proposals, getting in touch with the Solver if additional information is needed.

Following this preliminary evaluation, the Proposal(s) that meet the requirements of the Challenge will be further evaluated by one or more relevant Enel companies and/or business lines.

Enel will evaluate the proposal using the following criteria:

  • Overall scientific and technical feasibility of the proposed solution;
  • Economic potential of concept (e.g. Total Cost of Ownership);
  • Business potential for Enel;
  • Novelty and not obviousness;
  • Potential for proprietary position (i.e., is the technology novel or protectable);
  • User’s capabilities and related experience;
  • Realism of the proposed solution;
  • Maturity level of the proposal.

 

In case the reward includes “Collaboration and testing agreement”, once suitable solution/s will be identified, Enel will reserve the opportunity to start a collaboration, by way of example, all or part of the following activities:

  • Test execution;
  • Supply of prototypes (if an equipment);
  • Installation and site tests;
  • Follow up and monitoring of the proposed idea behavior.

 

At the end of the assessment, you will receive feedback.

In case of success, an Enel contact person will get in touch with you to discuss the next steps.

Attachments

Regulation eRFP challenge ReShape - Enel Innovation Hubs

PDF (0.43MB) Download

Enel Open Innovability User Guide

PDF (0.66MB) Download