Schoonschip builds floating residential districts that combine on‑site solar PV, aquathermic heat pumps and battery storage into a community‑wide smart grid. The system operates as a virtual power plant, using predictive algorithms to trade surplus electricity and enable peer‑to‑peer energy exchange, while shared electric mobility and green roofs reduce overall emissions. An open‑source platform documents the design for replication by other cities.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Urban housing faces rising energy costs, limited grid capacity, and a lack of community-driven solutions for sustainable living, especially in dense city environments. Traditional residential developments often rely on centralized fossil‑fuel infrastructure, resulting in high carbon footprints and reduced resilience.
Solution
Schoonschip delivers a floating residential district that integrates a self‑contained smart grid and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to manage on‑site renewable generation, storage, and demand response. Each floating ark is equipped with photovoltaic panels, aquathermic heat pumps that draw heat from canal water, and a dedicated battery, enabling near‑self‑sufficiency. The VPP runs predictive algorithms that trade surplus electricity on multiple markets, lowering household energy bills while reducing load on the national grid. Peer‑to‑peer (P2P) energy exchange lets residents allocate surplus power according to community priorities. Shared mobility assets (e‑bikes, electric cars) and communal green roofs further cut emissions and foster social cohesion. An open‑source platform (Greenprint) documents the technical design, allowing other cities to replicate the model.
Target Audience
Primary users are environmentally conscious residents seeking affordable, low‑carbon housing, and municipal planners or developers looking for a replicable, floating smart‑grid community model.
Features
- Floating housing units (“arks”) with two‑under‑one‑cap layouts, providing 46 households on 30 arks.
- Roof‑mounted solar PV arrays delivering on‑site electricity generation for each unit.
- Aquathermic heat pumps extracting thermal energy from the Johan van Hasselt canal for space heating and hot water.
- Individual lithium‑ion battery packs storing excess generation and enabling load shifting.
- Community‑wide smart grid with peer‑to‑peer energy trading under an exemption from the Electricity Act.
- Virtual Power Plant software that forecasts demand, optimizes market participation, and applies congestion‑management strategies.
- Shared electric mobility fleet (e‑bikes, electric cars, cargo bikes) managed through a common reservation system.
- Separate grey‑water and black‑water streams; pilot bio‑refinery project converting black water to biogas.
- Green roofs covering at least one‑third of each roof surface, providing insulation and biodiversity.
- Open‑source documentation and API (Greenprint) for knowledge transfer and external collaboration.