Wondrwall: Cutting bills while boosting grid flexibility 

In the drive towards improved grid flexibility, the UK needs to increase its battery storage capacity. However, in the residential sector, high upfront prices and installation costs can leave consumers waiting many years for a return on their investment. 

In addition, batteries are typically installed as an add-on to solar PV installation, somewhat limiting their applicability and appeal to homes that can accommodate solar solutions. As a result, while the market is expanding, residential battery deployment is still not scaling at the pace needed.  

Wondrwall’s solution can help to address these bottlenecks. The company’s Home Energy Management System (HEMS) integrates smart sensors, solar PV, battery storage, EV charging, and low‑carbon heating into a single intelligent platform that can monitor, predict, and optimise energy flows and create intelligent, net-zero-ready homes.   

The company’s origins stem from founder Daniel Burton’s earlier venture. After his own grandmother suffered a fall, it sparked his idea to develop invisible, ambient wallpaper-centric safety technology. From here, Wondrwall emerged as a broader whole-home platform capable of orchestrating numerous devices seamlessly and eliminating the fragmented, multi‑app experience often facing consumers. 

Wondrwall faced a complex set of challenges in bringing its vision to market. A fundamental issue was the availability and long‑term viability of time‑of‑use (ToU) tariffs, making it difficult for the company to guarantee predictable savings for homeowners. Further, even when tariffs are favourable, electricians can charge prohibitively expensive installation fees. 

The firm also faced uncertainty around revenue generation potential in relation to its grid‑flexibility services, while misinformation and knowledge gaps also persist around domestic battery placement and persistent safety concerns related to lithium‑ion storage, which are barriers compounded by a lack of formal recognition within SAP and EPC assessments. 

To overcome these obstacles, Wondrwall sought targeted support. Through usability testing and consumer‑needs assessments it could get a clearer understanding of user behaviour and refine its product experience to scale successfully. It also aimed to segment its customers and sharpen the associated messaging to resonate more effectively with its audiences.  

Wondrwall needed to model the market more broadly, considering how the widespread charging of home batteries under current off‑peak structures might create new night‑time demand spikes. It also wanted to quantify how much grid‑flexibility income could realistically offset battery costs for consumers – insights which could reshape its ToU tariffs algorithms.  

As a Lighthouse company within the GridFlex Innovator Programme, delivered by Digital Catapult and Energy Systems Catapult and funded by Innovate UK, Wondrwall received in-depth, tailored support in each of its core challenge areas.  

The collaboration began with a cross-functional stakeholder workshop, where the GridFlex team helped to surface hidden pain points and validated priority use cases. This was then followed by significant support from the Consumer Insights team in consumer segmentation, as well as value proposition refinement for those different customer segments. 

Messaging was another critical pillar of the support. The GridFlex team partnered closely with Wondrwall to craft a succinct elevator pitch and develop messaging frameworks tailored for both technical and non‑technical audiences to boost interest whilst emphasising Wondrwall’s product-led identity.  

An additional workshop was then held to improve Wondrwall’s understanding of different flexibility services and select entry points, laying the groundwork for the next phase of firm’s commercial growth. 

With support from Digital Catapult, Wondrwall has further optimised its Home Energy Management Systems by developing an AC‑coupled battery that integrates seamlessly with the HEMS and can be retrofitted into homes without solar. By charging with low‑cost off‑peak electricity and running the home on that energy throughout the day, the battery reduces household bills while improving overall grid flexibility. 

In an effort to address the high upfront costs that had been a major adoption barrier, Wondrwall has introduced PowrPlan – an Energy‑as‑a‑Service (EaaS) model that replaces a lump‑sum purchase with a simple monthly fee. Instead of paying £7,000 upfront for a battery that might reduce bills by £500–£1,000 a year, homeowners pay just £30 per month, save around £50 per month, and resultantly see a return from the off. Each battery also delivers 6 kW of grid flexibility, with the associated revenue used to subsidise deployment. 

As a result of its innovations, Wondrwall’s model has the potential to reduce energy bills for 100,000 households while contributing around 600 MW of grid flexibility. Moving forward, the firm will continue to hone its proposition by deepening its understanding of customer needs, securing investment to fully finance its EaaS model, and respond to emerging market opportunities. The company is also exploring how it can further harness AI to enhance prediction, optimisation, and home orchestration as it continues its mission to create truly intelligent, flexible, net‑zero‑ready homes. 

Probably the single most important piece was some modelling around the potential benefits of the flexibility markets and opportunities there Mark Lufkin
Chief Product Officer, Wondrwall