REScoopVPP · Project

Open-Source Smart Home Controller Turns Energy Communities Into Virtual Power Plants

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Imagine your neighbourhood could act like a mini power company — sharing solar energy from rooftops, timing when to charge electric cars, and switching heat pumps on when electricity is cheapest. REScoopVPP built an affordable plug-and-play box (called the COFY-Box) that connects to over 1,400 types of home devices and lets an energy community manage all of them together. It was tested across real homes in five European countries, turning individual households into a coordinated energy team that wastes less and saves more. The project even set up a legal entity to sell this system commercially after the research ended.

By the numbers

98 million

Europeans who could become prosumers by 2050

1,400+

device integrations supported by the COFY-Box

375,000

customers targeted within 5 years after the project

559 GWh/year

primary energy savings at full scale

2 steps

average SRI (Smart Readiness Indicator) improvement per house

countries with pilot deployments (BE, FR, DE, ES, UK)

consortium partners across 7 countries

The business problem

What needed solving

Energy communities and cooperatives across Europe are growing fast, but they lack affordable, vendor-neutral technology to coordinate hundreds of distributed devices — solar panels, batteries, EVs, heat pumps — into a single manageable system. Without real-time control and demand response, these communities leave significant energy savings on the table and cannot compete with traditional utility offerings.

The solution

What was built

The project built the COFY-Box, an open-source smart home controller with over 1,400 device integrations, along with community management tools including forecasting algorithms, dynamic pricing, and OpenADR-based demand response. Physical deliverables include a final hardware prototype and hardware installation packages deployed at pilot sites across 5 countries.

Audience

Who needs this

Energy cooperatives and citizen energy communities wanting smart management toolsESCOs and aggregators seeking residential demand-response technologySmart home hardware companies looking for an open-source building controller platformMunicipal utilities exploring community energy modelsProperty developers building energy-positive residential neighbourhoods

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Energy cooperatives and community energy providers

SME

Target: Energy cooperative or community energy supplier looking to offer smart energy management to members

If you are an energy cooperative struggling to coordinate distributed generation and consumption across hundreds of member households — this project developed the COFY-Box, an open-source smart home controller with over 1,400 device integrations that was piloted across 5 countries. It enables demand response, dynamic pricing, and real-time asset management, with potential to impact 375,000 customers within 5 years of deployment.

Building energy management and ESCOs

mid-size

Target: Energy Service Company (ESCO) or building energy management provider

If you are an ESCO looking for scalable demand-response technology to offer residential clients — this project built community tools including forecasting algorithms, a dynamic pricing module, and OpenADR-based demand response. The system was tested at pilot sites with real hardware installations and targets primary energy savings of 559 GWh/year at scale. It integrates EVs, PV, batteries, heat pumps, and legacy heating equipment.

Smart home and IoT hardware

SME

Target: Smart home device manufacturer or aggregator platform provider

If you are a smart home technology company needing an open, vendor-neutral building controller — this project created the COFY-Box based on open-source home automation with more than 1,400 integrations. It includes a final hardware prototype and installation packages ready for deployment, and the consortium established a dedicated legal entity to bring the solution to market across Europe.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What does the COFY-Box cost and how is it priced?

The project objective states the COFY-Box is designed to be 'affordable and easy to install,' but no specific price point appears in the available project data. A dedicated legal entity was established to commercialize the solution, suggesting pricing models are being developed for market entry.

Can this scale to thousands of homes across multiple countries?

Yes — the system was piloted in 5 countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, UK) in a large-scale experimentation. The project targets 375,000 customers within 5 years after completion, and the open-source base with over 1,400 device integrations supports broad deployment without vendor lock-in.

Is the technology open-source or proprietary? What are the licensing terms?

The COFY-Box is built on existing open-source home automation technology. The consortium established a dedicated legal entity to bring solutions to market, which likely manages IP and licensing. Specific licensing terms would need to be discussed with the commercializing entity.

How does this integrate with existing heating and legacy equipment?

The project specifically focused on intelligent integration of thermal storage and hybrid heating solutions, capable of shifting fossil fuel consumption from legacy DHW and heating equipment to flexible renewable heat. Smart plug control and EU-standard emerging equipment integration were also addressed.

What energy savings can I realistically expect?

The project targets primary energy savings of 559 GWh/year at full scale (375,000 customers) and aims to improve the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) of houses by 2 steps on average. Actual savings per household will depend on local conditions, equipment mix, and energy prices.

What demand response capabilities does the system support?

The system includes both implicit demand response through a dynamic pricing module and explicit demand response via an OpenADR-based solution. It also features demand and production forecasting algorithms for real-time asset operation by energy communities.

Is this compliant with current EU energy regulations?

The project was designed around energy community concepts aligned with the EU Clean Energy Package. It incorporates emerging EU standards for equipment integration and OpenADR for demand response. Based on available project data, regulatory compliance was a design consideration throughout.

Consortium

Who built it

The REScoopVPP consortium of 12 partners across 7 countries is well-balanced for commercialization: 7 industry partners (58% industry ratio) including 6 SMEs signal strong market orientation rather than a purely academic exercise. The coordinator is SNAP! Solutions, a Portuguese SME, which keeps decision-making close to market needs. With only 2 universities and no pure research organizations, this is clearly an implementation-focused team. The geographic spread across Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Slovenia, and the UK covers major European energy markets. The establishment of a dedicated legal entity for post-project commercialization shows the consortium planned beyond the funding period.

SNAP! SOLUTIONS, LDA.Coordinator · PT
ENERCOOPparticipant · FR
THE SOCIETY FOR THE REDUCTION OF CARBON LIMITEDparticipant · UK
UNIVERSITEIT GENTparticipant · BE
SOM ENERGIA SCCLparticipant · ES
ECOPOWERparticipant · BE
ENERGIEIDparticipant · BE
UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANIparticipant · SI
RESCOOP EU ASBLparticipant · BE

How to reach the team

SNAP! Solutions, Lda. (Portugal) — contact via project website or SciTransfer introduction

Order a report on this consortium See SNAP! SOLUTIONS, LDA. profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to integrate this open-source smart building controller into your energy community or ESCO offering? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the team behind REScoopVPP and their commercialization entity.

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