MONSOL: Commitment to Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency

Monsol and its tandem company Zero Point–Monsol Electronic: a team effort

Spanish Patents and Trademarks Office

The Monsol group, created in 2005 through the merger of several companies in the photovoltaic sector, specializes in the design, development and production of software and hardware for monitoring photovoltaic installations to promote energy saving and efficiency.

To develop the software tools needed for monitoring, the group created the company Zero Point S.L. in 2006, which provides monitoring system design, supply and integration services. Its software can be used to analyze and solve problems arising in photovoltaic plant installations and to determine consumption in domestic installations in order to offer efficient energy solutions. The aim of the software is to make it easier for the client to install, configure and display the data obtained by the devices designed by the company.

One of the company’s most novel devices is a device for measuring electrical variables in distribution boards, as affirmed by the favorable patentability report regarding its international PCT patent application WO2018224709A1, which has a priority right in Spain as a utility model (ES1185959U).

Using all its experience and acquired know‑how, the company began to develop its own components for measuring current in photovoltaic systems. In 2017, it launched the CcM project, leading to the device known as CcM1‑C, a current‑measuring device for achieving energy efficiency in buildings.

During 2018 and 2019, the activities of the project were divided between the two companies, with two very distinct roles:

• Zero Point S.L., which continues to design and supplement the range of energy meter products that measure directly by means of a connection comb, culminating in the current portfolio of CcM devices: main devices (grid analyzers), secondary devices (current meters) and smart devices or Wi‑Fi data loggers and gateways. This design and innovation process is ongoing and some of the new products will be launched in 2020.
• Monsol Electronics S.L. (Energy CcM), which is responsible for industrializing the equipment, generating molds, manufacturing tools, calibration systems, adjusting measurements, purchasing machinery for installation, providing certificates of safety and electromagnetic compatibility, manuals, commercial material, etc., to enable the CcM devices to be commercialized.

The devices: innovation comes first

The CcM electronic devices are a family of current and energy meters with individual (domestic) or combined (industrial and tertiary) application, which are used to measure electricity consumption and can apply energy‑saving or efficiency measures. They are installed in circuit breakers and allow all the electrical parameters of the current circulating through them to be determined without requiring extra space. They can be installed easily and directly without needing to modify the electrical panels and take up hardly any space. They are category III electrical devices.

Applications

The market for these devices covers the energy efficiency and electronics sectors. One of the most popular applications is “self‑consumption” management whereby all the information regarding consumption and injection into the grid, solar generation and the self‑consumption balance of any inverter can be made available.

The CcM devices have multiple applications:

• residential, office use;
• non‑residential, commercial, hospitality use;
• industrial use;
• use in public lighting; and
• solar/photovoltaic use.

These markets offer great opportunities because they are sectors that are in constant development and increasingly present in everyday life. Energy efficiency is clearly a sector in continuous growth and will remain so in the coming years. Whether in products or services, consumers prefer more efficiency, which means lower consumption, greater environmental benefit and a larger financial saving.

In Spain, there has been huge growth in the photovoltaic solar energy sector, especially self‑consumption, and the corresponding installations since the entry into force and implementation of Royal Decree No. 244/2019 of April 5, regulating the administrative, technical and economic conditions of electricity self‑consumption, which marked a turning point for the sector. Photovoltaic solar self‑consumption installations had multiplied tenfold in 2019 with respect to the previous 10 years.

The main objective is to maintain upward growth in these markets. Each day, the company earns a larger market share from the applications and solutions provided by its devices, so the forecasts for production, marketing and sales of the devices are likewise all increasing.

Present and future

The action for 2020 is to consolidate the national market, where 100% of sales have been made so far, by selling through distributors specialized in the electrical market, industrial integration and the photovoltaic sector.

Internationalization is expected to begin in the European market in 2021, thanks to the projects with European companies in the consolidation phase, and in 2022 in non‑EU markets.

The online market is another channel to be reinforced in 2020, to prepare for the international sale of the devices and gain a foothold in specialized and global sales portals to achieve better economic results.

Protection through industrial property

The renewable energy sector is growing, which supports the company’s intended international expansion. As it embarks on this path, the Monsol group remains committed to protecting its intangible assets through various types of industrial property. It considers patenting its property and protecting its trademarks and industrial designs to be fundamental to the consolidation and expansion of the company at the international level.

Its innovative products are set apart from any other energy‑measuring device because they perform direct measurement by means of combs that connect to the circuit breaker. This gives them the highest precision on the market (category B2) and allows easy installation without modifying the electrical panels while taking up hardly any space.

The group is now preparing new patent and industrial design applications for products in development that will be launched over the next two years.