PODCAST | Plentify’s push to lower household energy costs through tech

The use of technology to increase power savings in the home is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Jon Kornik, co-founder and CEO of Plentify.

An advocate for smart home technology, Kornik sees opportunity in SA and other markets for such systems. He explains the difference between current home automation trends vs the bigger aims of using AI systems to change or improve consumer behaviour in the home. 

Plentify is a smart-energy company that Kornik says “makes affordable, reliable and clean electricity a reality for everyone”. 

Based in SA and the US, the company specialises in using data to improve power savings and efficiencies for homeowners.

An area in which Kornik says homeowners can make gains is when solar power is used. The company’s research shows that geysers can be co-ordinated to shift their energy use into sunny times, and shape that energy use to match solar generation with great effect — doubling the size of feasible solar plants.

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Putting these learnings into practice, the company has developed a device called HotBot, which can be attached to solar or geyser systems, helping to monitor energy consumption and use.

Kornik previously led Google’s energy business in Africa. 

Topics of discussion include: Plentify’s business model; power consumption trends in SA; the move to increase power usage efficiency; the opportunity for smart home based businesses; and how the company has funded its operations.

• Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production. 

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