This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 29, 2021 - April 4, 2021

When Ashwin Menon co-founded Reneon technologies in 2012, demand for energy-efficiency solutions was a far cry from what it is today.

Back then, Ashwin and his team had to put in a lot of effort to help potential clients understand the benefits of energy-efficiency monitoring systems. 

“As the internet became more widespread, we came to a stage where most of our clients, whether large or small, understood the benefits of monitoring energy use and were interested in energy-efficiency solutions. We no longer have to convince them too much about the benefits. Now, it just comes down to costing,” says Ashwin.

Ashwin co-founded the company after graduating from the University of Nottingham with a degree in electrical and electronics engineering. He had worked with a few companies that performed energy audits for buildings and realised that internet-based solutions could address challenges in that space. 

“Many clients were still using offline methods to collect data. For instance, they had electrical meters throughout their facilities, but were still getting someone to manually collect data from the meters every day to analyse energy use,” says Ashwin.

That is how he and his team came to design a cloud-based energy management platform called IVIS. “We deployed sensors and gateways to collect the data that used to be gathered manually. The data is then sent to the cloud platform to be analysed,” he says. 

With the information, companies can optimise and enhance their processes to save energy, thus reducing operational costs. For instance, Reneon placed its energy monitoring system in a petrol station and performed a benchmark study to help the client understand energy use in the facility.

“They had seven air-conditioning units. We did a study to find out how long the air-conditioners ran each day and how much power they used. After that, we installed a gadget to optimise the amount of energy the air conditioners used to cool the facilities. We continued to monitor the performance of the systems for a few days after that,” says Ashwin. They found that the gadgets helped the client reduce energy consumption by around 20%. 

“Once we have gathered data and performed the benchmark studies, we usually tailor a solution for the client, as every client has different requirements,” says Ashwin.

“For instance, if one of the largest sources of energy use for a food processing plant is its cooling system, we will study the equipment and come up with solutions for the client. For example, we could recommend that the client invest in smart inverters, which are devices that can adjust the equipment based on feedback.”

Instead of running the cooling system constantly at full capacity, the smart inverter can tweak the equipment based on temperature feedback. “It could perhaps run at 50% capacity for half the day or when it’s required,” he says.

If it detects irregularities in voltage supplies to the facility, it can deploy voltage optimisers. “It’s a feedback solution that detects what the level of voltage is going to be in the facility and corrects it in real time, so that the facility gets a stable voltage level,” says Ashwin.

Reneon’s clients range from players in the aerospace industry to commercial buildings and industrial factories in Malaysia. Developing cost-friendly solutions for clients is one of the company’s biggest challenges now, says Ashwin. Reneon clients can pay either an upfront cost of RM2,000 and up or a monthly fee that could start from RM60. 

Clients who engage in energy-efficiency projects could qualify for the Green Investment Tax Allowance or the standard tax investment allowance for upgrading of facilities, he adds.

“We are focused on innovating and expanding our platform. We would like to expand to other industries, especially the agriculture sector, as we have noticed that many people are trying to improve their farm [processes],” says Ashwin.

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