Mission Statement
To provide an open, standardized, and comprehensive benchmarking framework for residential Distributed Energy Resource (DER) systems, promoting widespread adoption of home and community energy management solutions through transparent performance evaluation and comparison, and advancing innovation and development in the sustainable energy industry.
Description
This project aims to address the critical gap of standardized benchmarking scenarios in the rapid growth of residential Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Through establishing a comprehensive open-source benchmarking platform, we provide an evaluation framework for the entire residential DER lifecycle:
Core capabilities include:
- Location and Sizing Optimization: Installation location and capacity planning decisions based on long-term (1-15 years) investment return analysis
- HEMS (Home Energy Management System) Evaluation: Performance assessment of different energy management algorithms under standardized scenarios
- Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Benchmarking: Evaluation of residential DER participation in grid services and energy markets
Technical innovations:
- Comprehensive uncertainty modeling (solar generation forecasting, electricity demand, pricing, and device failures)
- Multi-algorithm evaluation framework (including baseline methods and advanced AI-driven strategies)
- Support for multiple pricing mechanisms (fixed rate, time-of-use, dynamic pricing)
- Consideration of different regulatory policy impacts (non-export, net metering, net billing tariffs)
- Integration with real-world iMSys smart meter infrastructure
Coverage:
- County-level analysis of over 500,000 U.S. households
- Support for evaluation across multiple markets including Germany and the UK
- Use of open-source datasets such as ResStock (500,000+ load profiles)
Is this a new project or an existing one?
New Project
Current lead(s)
English:
Primary Initiator:
- Rui Li - EcoFlow
- Anurag Mohapatra - Technical University of Munich
- Tao Sun - Stanford University
Project leaders:
- Jawen Zhang - EcoFlow
- Xianyuan Wang - EcoFlow
Sponsoring organization(s), along with any other key contributing individuals and/or organizations
Primary Sponsoring Organization:
- EcoFlow - Primary project initiator and core development team
- TUM (Technical University of Munich) CoSES Laboratory - PHIL testing and hardware-in-the-loop validation
- Stanford University - Feasibility Assessment of Photovoltaic and ESS Systems in the United States
Project leaders:
- Jawen Zhang - EcoFlow
- Xianyuan Wang - EcoFlow
Detail any existing community infrastructure, including:
- Github/GitLab, or other location where the code is hosted
- Website and/or docs
- Communication channels ( such as Mailing lists, Slack, IRC )
- Social Media Accounts
Code Repository:
- Planned hosting on GitHub (specific repository to be determined after LF Energy approval)
Website and Documentation:
- Project website: To be established (planned under LF Energy website)
- Technical documentation: Will include complete API documentation, user guides, and developer documentation
Communication Channels:
- Mailing lists: To be established (through LF Energy infrastructure)
- Slack channels: To be established
- Regular technical meetings: Monthly or quarterly technical discussions
Social Media:
- Promotion through LF Energy social media channels
- Project official Twitter/LinkedIn accounts: To be established
Are there any specific infrastructure needs or requests outside of what is provided normally by LF Energy ? If so please detail them.
No
Why would this be a good candidate for inclusion in LF Energy?
- Addresses Critical Industry Pain Points: Fills the gap in standardized benchmarking for distributed energy resources, one of the most pressing challenges in the current industry
- Open Source Spirit: Fully open source, promoting transparency and reproducibility, eliminating barriers from proprietary datasets
- Wide Industry Impact: Directly serves the rapidly growing residential solar and energy storage market, with the European storage market expected to grow from 3 GWh to 122 GWh by 2030
- Collaboration Potential: Already has multiple partners from academia and industry, favorable for building a strong community
- Aligns with LF Energy Mission: Promotes open standards and interoperability in the energy industry
- International Impact: Covers multiple markets including the U.S., Germany, and the UK, with a global perspective
How would this benefit from inclusion in LF Energy?
- Organizational Support: Industry organizational structure and management support from LF Energy Foundation for collaborative development
- Community Building: Rapidly establish an active developer community leveraging LF Energy's platform and network
- Industry Recognition: Increase project recognition and adoption in the industry through LF Energy's credibility and influence
- Resource Integration: Opportunities for synergy and integration with other LF Energy projects (FlexMeasure)
- Standardization Support: Participate in LF Energy's standardization work, promoting industry standard development
- Intellectual Property Management: Professional intellectual property and legal support
- Market Promotion: Expand project influence through LF Energy's marketing and events
- Long-term Sustainability: As a foundation project, ensure long-term maintenance and development
- Talent Attraction: Attract more developers and researchers from the energy industry to participate
- Technical Collaboration: Deep technical cooperation with LF projects such as LF AI & Data
Provide a statement on alignment with the mission in the LF Energy charter.
This project fully aligns with LF Energy's mission:
- Openness and Collaboration: This project is committed to establishing open, transparent benchmarking standards, eliminating proprietary barriers in the industry, and promoting cross-organizational collaboration and innovation.
- Interoperability: Through standardized evaluation frameworks, supporting fair comparison between different HEMS algorithms and system configurations, promoting interoperability and system integration.
- Sustainable Development: Directly supports optimization and adoption of residential renewable energy systems, promoting clean energy transition, aligning with sustainable energy goals.
- Industry Transformation: Addresses key challenges in the rapid growth of distributed energy resources, providing foundational tools for the energy industry's digital transformation.
- Open Source Innovation: Accelerates innovation through open-source development and community collaboration, avoiding duplication of effort, benefiting the entire industry.
- Technology Neutrality: Provides a neutral evaluation platform, not favoring any specific technical solution or vendor.
What specific need does this project address?
Three Critical Challenges Facing the Industry:
- Lack of Standardized Benchmarking Scenarios
- Different platforms use different methodologies and standards, resulting in incomparable results
- Companies like Tesla and Huawei have developed tools, but fair performance comparison is difficult
- Proprietary datasets prevent transparent evaluation
- Missing Standardization in HEMS Algorithm Evaluation
- Inability to fairly compare performance of different energy management algorithms
- Vendors each claim performance metrics (80% vs 90%) without common standards
- No unified evaluation scenarios and metrics
- Limitations in Virtual Power Plant Participation Evaluation
- Although VPPs can generate revenue through services such as frequency containment reserve, systematic evaluation is lacking
- Limited evaluation methods for residential DER participation in energy markets
Project Solutions:
- Provide unified benchmarking framework and standardized scenarios
- Establish fair and transparent performance comparison mechanisms
- Support full lifecycle evaluation from location and sizing to HEMS and VPP
Describe how this project impacts the energy industry.
Positive Impacts on the Energy Industry:
- Enhanced Transparency:
- Eliminates "black box" evaluations, enabling all stakeholders to objectively compare different solutions
- Establishes industry trust and standards
- Accelerated Innovation:
- Provides standardized testing platforms for R&D, avoiding duplicate infrastructure development
- Promotes rapid iteration of algorithms and technologies
- Optimized Investment Decisions:
- Helps consumers, installers, and investors make data-driven informed decisions
- Reduces investment risk through transparent evaluation
- Policy Development Support:
- Provides quantitative data to support policy making (such as net metering policy impact analysis)
- Helps policymakers understand effects of different regulatory frameworks
- Market Growth Promotion:
- Reduces adoption barriers and increases consumer confidence
- The residential storage market is expected to grow from 3 GWh to 122 GWh by 2030 (Europe)
- Grid Integration Optimization:
- Promotes better residential DER participation in grid services through VPP benchmarking
- Supports widespread adoption of virtual power plant models
- Cost Reduction:
- Standardization reduces development costs, ultimately benefiting end users
- Optimized system configurations reduce total cost of ownership
- Educational Value:
- Provides teaching and research tools for academia and industry
- Cultivates next generation of energy management experts
Describe how this project intersects with other LF Energy projects/working groups/special interest groups.
Intersections with LF Energy Projects:
project
- PowerGridModel
- FlepMeaure
- OpenSTEF
Who are the potential benefactors of this project?
Direct Beneficiaries:
- End Users (Residential Property Owners):
- Obtain objective system performance evaluation
- Make more informed investment decisions
- Optimize energy costs
- System Integrators and Installers:
- Standardized design tools
- Fair performance comparison capabilities
- Enhanced customer trust
- HEMS Developers and Suppliers:
- Fair competitive environment
- Standard testing and validation tools
- Algorithm performance improvement feedback
- Research Institutions and Academia:
- Open-source research tools and data
- Standardized evaluation methods
- Reproducible research environment
- Policymakers and Regulatory Agencies:
- Data-driven policy analysis tools
- Policy impact assessment capabilities
- Investors and Financial Institutions:
- Risk assessment tools
- Investment return analysis frameworks
- Grid Operators:
- VPP participation evaluation tools
- Grid integration optimization support
- Equipment Manufacturers:
- Product performance benchmarking
- Market competitive positioning
What other organizations in the world should be interested in this project?
International Organizations of Interest:
- Research Institutions and Universities:
- Global energy research institutions
- Technical universities (MIT, Stanford, ETH Zurich, etc.)
- National laboratories (NREL, Fraunhofer, etc.)
- Industry Associations:
- International Solar Energy Society (ISES)
- European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE)
- Smart Grid associations
- Standardization Organizations:
- IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)
- IEEE Standards Association
- ISO/TC 301 (Energy management and energy savings)
- Equipment Manufacturers:
- Tesla, Huawei, Samsung, LG, etc.
- PV module manufacturers
- Battery system suppliers
- Software and Solution Providers:
- HEMS software companies
- Energy management platform providers
- VPP operators
- Utility Companies:
- Major power companies in Europe, U.S., and Asia
- Distribution grid operators
- Government Agencies:
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- European Commission Directorate-General for Energy
- National energy regulatory agencies
- Non-profit Organizations:
- Renewable energy advocacy organizations
- Consumer protection organizations
- Environmental organizations
- Financial Institutions:
- Green energy investment funds
- Development banks
- International Organizations:
- IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency)
- IEA (International Energy Agency)
Plan for growing in maturity if accepted within LF Energy
Maturity Growth Plan:
- Stage 1: Incubation Stage (2026 Q1 to 2026 Q2)
- Complete the open source release of the core code repository (February 2026)
- Establish basic community infrastructure
- Recruiting initial contributors
- Release the first stable version
- Phase 2: Early adoption (2026 Q3 to 2026 Q4)
- Complete integration with HEMS Finder
- Expand to more markets and regions
- Establish an active developer community
- Hold the first HEMS seminar (September 2026)
- Stage 3: Stable Growth (2027-2028)
- Establish standardized workflow
- Add case studies from multiple countries/regions
- Expand to commercial application scenarios
- Stage 4: Maturity and Expansion (2029+)
- Becoming a benchmark testing platform for industry standards
- Deep integration with other LF Energy projects
- Establish certification and compliance projects
Key Milestones:
- February 2026: EU size assessment and complete HEMS ranking capability
- May 2026: Integrated comprehensive HEMS algorithm set
- August 2026: Third party platform connectivity
- September 2026: Third HEMS Symposium (TUM)
Project license
Apache License 2.0
Is the project's code available now? If so provide a link to the code location.
https://github.com/ecoflow-ai/hems-benchmark
Does this project have ongoing public (or private) technical meetings?
Current Status:
- Regular internal R&D team meetings (private)
- Regular coordination meetings with partners (HEMS Finder, TUM, etc.)
Planned Establishment (after joining LF Energy):
- Monthly technical discussions (public)
- Quarterly community meetings
- Annual symposium (first planned for September 2026 at TUM)
- Daily communication through LF Energy mailing lists and Slack
Meeting Format:
- Video conferencing (Zoom/Google Meet)
- Public meeting minutes
- Agendas and materials published in advance
Does this project's community venues have a code of conduct? If so, please provide a link to it?
English:
Planned Adoption:
- LF Energy Code of Conduct (if LF Energy has a unified CoC)
- Or adopt Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct (https://www.contributor-covenant.org/)
Implementation Plan:
- Include CoC file in project repository
- Clear links on website and documentation
- Designate Code of Conduct enforcement contacts
Describe the project's leadership team and decision-making process.
Leadership Structure:
Project Management Committee (PMC):
- Composed of core contributors and representatives from major partners
- Responsible for strategic decisions, roadmap development, and community governance
Technical Steering Committee (TSC):
- Technical leads and core developers
- Responsible for technical decisions, architecture design, and code review
Decision-making Process:
- Technical Decisions: Through pull requests (PR) and technical discussions, following "lazy consensus" principle
- Strategic Decisions: PMC voting, simple majority
- Major Changes: Require broader community discussion and consensus
Role Definitions:
- Maintainer: Responsible for specific modules, has merge permissions
- Contributor: Submits code, documentation, issue reports
- Reviewer: Code review and technical guidance
Transparency:
- All decisions discussed in public channels
- Public meeting minutes
- Documented decision rationale
Does this project have public governance (more than just one organization)?
Current Status:
- The project was initiated by EcoFlow, Stanford University, and TUM
- Governance structure is being developed
Planned Establishment:
- Multi-organizational Governance: PMC will include representatives from different organizations
- Public Governance Documents: Operating Model and Governance documents will be publicly available in project repository
- Neutral Governance: Ensure no bias toward any single organization
- Contributor-driven: Governance rights based on contributions rather than organizational affiliation
Goals:
- Establish multi-organizational governance structure during project incubation phase
- Ensure project independence from any single commercial entity
Does this project have a development schedule and/or release schedule?
Development Timeline:
- 2026 Q1 to 2026 Q2
- Complete the open source release of the core code repository (February 2026)
- Establish basic community infrastructure
- Recruiting initial contributors
- Release the first stable version
- 2026 Q3 to 2026 Q4
- Complete integration with HEMS Finder
- Expand to more markets and regions
- Establish an active developer community
- Hold the first HEMS seminar (September 2026)
- 2027-2029+
- Establish standardized workflow
- Add case studies from multiple countries/regions
- Expand to commercial application scenarios
- Becoming a benchmark testing platform for industry standards
- Deep integration with other LF Energy projects
- Establish certification and compliance projects
Does this project have dependencies on other open source projects? Which ones?
Major Open Source Dependencies:
- Data Processing and Scientific Computing:
- NumPy, Pandas (Python data analysis)
- SciPy (scientific computing)
- Machine Learning and Optimization:
- scikit-learn, XGBoost (machine learning)
- Pyomo, ortools, pulp, CBC, CLP(optimization solvers)
- Visualization:
- Matplotlib, Plotly (data visualization)
- Web Frameworks (if needed):
- Flask or FastAPI (API services)
- Testing Frameworks:
- pytest (unit testing)
- Coverage.py (code coverage)
- Version Control and Workflow:
- Git, GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
Datasets:
- ResStock (NREL, open source)
- Other public load and generation datasets
License Compatibility:
- All dependencies will be compatible with Apache 2.0
Describe the project's documentation.
Documentation Plan:
- User Documentation:
- Quick start guide
- Installation and configuration instructions
- Usage tutorials and examples
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- API Documentation:
- Complete API reference
- Code examples and use cases
- Integration guides
- Developer Documentation:
- Architecture design documents
- Contribution guide
- Code style guide
- Testing guide
- Research Documentation:
- Methodology descriptions
- Algorithm descriptions
- Benchmark scenario definitions
- Academic paper links
- Deployment Documentation:
- Production deployment guides
- Cloud platform deployment (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Docker containerization documentation
- Documentation Format:
- Markdown format (in repository)
- Sphinx-generated HTML documentation
- Hosted on Read the Docs or LF Energy website
- Multi-language Support:
- Initial version: English
- Planned support: Chinese, German (based on community needs)
Describe any trademarks associated with the project.
Current Status:
- No formal trademark registration yet
Plans:
- Project name and logo will be part of LF Energy project
- Follow LF Energy brand guidelines
- If needed, trademark registration through LF Energy Foundation
Usage Policy:
- Follow LF Energy trademark usage policy
- Ensure appropriate community use of project branding
Do you have a project roadmap? If so please attach or provide a link.
Project Roadmap:
- Short term: (2026 Q1 to 2026 Q2)
- Complete the open source release of the core code repository (February 2026)
- Establish basic community infrastructure
- Recruiting initial contributors
- Release the first stable version
- Mid term: (2026 Q3 to 2026 Q4)
- Complete integration with HEMS Finder
- Expand to more markets and regions
- Establish an active developer community
- Hold the first HEMS seminar (September 2026)
- Long term (2027-2029+)
- Establish standardized workflow
- Add case studies from multiple countries/regions
- Expand to commercial application scenarios
- Becoming a benchmark testing platform for industry standards
- Deep integration with other LF Energy projects
- Establish certification and compliance projects
Are this project's roadmap and meeting minutes public posted?
Yes
Does this project have a legal entity and/or registered trademarks?
None
Has this project been announced or promoted in any press?
Published Promotions: LF Energy Europe Summit 2025
Media Coverage:
- To be conducted after formal project launch
Does this project compete with other open source projects or commercial products?
None
Mission Statement
To provide an open, standardized, and comprehensive benchmarking framework for residential Distributed Energy Resource (DER) systems, promoting widespread adoption of home and community energy management solutions through transparent performance evaluation and comparison, and advancing innovation and development in the sustainable energy industry.
Description
This project aims to address the critical gap of standardized benchmarking scenarios in the rapid growth of residential Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Through establishing a comprehensive open-source benchmarking platform, we provide an evaluation framework for the entire residential DER lifecycle:
Core capabilities include:
Technical innovations:
Coverage:
Is this a new project or an existing one?
New Project
Current lead(s)
English:
Primary Initiator:
Project leaders:
Sponsoring organization(s), along with any other key contributing individuals and/or organizations
Primary Sponsoring Organization:
Project leaders:
Detail any existing community infrastructure, including:
Code Repository:
Website and Documentation:
Communication Channels:
Social Media:
Are there any specific infrastructure needs or requests outside of what is provided normally by LF Energy ? If so please detail them.
No
Why would this be a good candidate for inclusion in LF Energy?
How would this benefit from inclusion in LF Energy?
Provide a statement on alignment with the mission in the LF Energy charter.
This project fully aligns with LF Energy's mission:
What specific need does this project address?
Three Critical Challenges Facing the Industry:
Project Solutions:
Describe how this project impacts the energy industry.
Positive Impacts on the Energy Industry:
Describe how this project intersects with other LF Energy projects/working groups/special interest groups.
Intersections with LF Energy Projects:
project
Who are the potential benefactors of this project?
Direct Beneficiaries:
What other organizations in the world should be interested in this project?
International Organizations of Interest:
Plan for growing in maturity if accepted within LF Energy
Maturity Growth Plan:
Key Milestones:
Project license
Apache License 2.0
Is the project's code available now? If so provide a link to the code location.
https://github.com/ecoflow-ai/hems-benchmark
Does this project have ongoing public (or private) technical meetings?
Current Status:
Planned Establishment (after joining LF Energy):
Meeting Format:
Does this project's community venues have a code of conduct? If so, please provide a link to it?
English:
Planned Adoption:
Implementation Plan:
Describe the project's leadership team and decision-making process.
Leadership Structure:
Project Management Committee (PMC):
Technical Steering Committee (TSC):
Decision-making Process:
Role Definitions:
Transparency:
Does this project have public governance (more than just one organization)?
Current Status:
Planned Establishment:
Goals:
Does this project have a development schedule and/or release schedule?
Development Timeline:
Does this project have dependencies on other open source projects? Which ones?
Major Open Source Dependencies:
Datasets:
License Compatibility:
Describe the project's documentation.
Documentation Plan:
Describe any trademarks associated with the project.
Current Status:
Plans:
Usage Policy:
Do you have a project roadmap? If so please attach or provide a link.
Project Roadmap:
Are this project's roadmap and meeting minutes public posted?
Yes
Does this project have a legal entity and/or registered trademarks?
None
Has this project been announced or promoted in any press?
Published Promotions: LF Energy Europe Summit 2025
Media Coverage:
Does this project compete with other open source projects or commercial products?
None