How Bumaco Built an Intelligent Home Energy System with Smappee
Going from repairing refrigerators to managing intelligent energy may sound like a major leap, but for Bumaco Energies it was simply the next logical step. Generating solar power is one thing. Making sure that energy is used at the right time and in the right place is another. That is where Bumaco has built its expertise.
"We want to offer high-quality solutions, and Smappee fits perfectly within that vision."
Customer/End-user Home-owner
Installer Bumaco
Country Belgium
Industry Residential
A Partner that Delivers Measurable Results
Bumaco Group has been active for more than 30 years. What started as a refrigerator repair business in Rotselaar has grown into a group of 500 employees with locations across Flanders. Over the years, Bumaco Energies, formerly known as Solairco, has developed into a specialist in solar panels, home batteries and smart EV charging. The journey began with a simple customer question: could a heat pump run on self-generated solar energy?
Bumaco has been working with Smappee for around six years. Choosing Smappee was no coincidence.
"Sustainability and the fact that it's a Belgian company certainly played a role, but it was the monitoring and energy management capabilities that really convinced us," says Sven Martens of Bumaco Energies. "We want to offer high-quality solutions, and Smappee fits perfectly within that vision."
Bumaco installs every part of the system itself, from the solar panels on the roof to the EV charger in the garage. While Bumaco handles the installation, Smappee provides the intelligence behind the energy management. For services such as split billing or opening a charging installation to third-party users, Bumaco refers customers directly to Smappee.
Putte: a Home Where Solar, Storage and Charging Work Together
When a homeowner in Putte approached Bumaco during the construction of a new home, the objective was clear: maximise energy self-sufficiency while ensuring two electric vehicles could charge as much as possible using solar power.
The result is a fully integrated energy system where every component communicates with the others. Fifty JA Solar panels of 405 Wp provide more than 20 kW of installed solar capacity, connected to two Huawei hybrid inverters. A 15 kWh Huawei home battery stores excess solar energy and can later be expanded to 30 kWh. For EV charging, four Smappee charging points were installed: two EV Dual chargers on the driveway and two wall-mounted chargers inside the garage.
At the centre of the installation is Smappee Infinity. Whenever the solar panels produce more electricity than the house consumes, charging automatically starts. Once the vehicle is fully charged, any remaining surplus is directed to the home battery. If no vehicle is connected, the battery is charged immediately instead. Everything happens automatically, without requiring any action from the homeowner.
"Customers ask for this functionality all the time," says Martens. "Smappee makes it incredibly easy."
Because the homeowner works from home most days, there is almost always a vehicle available to absorb surplus solar production, allowing very little renewable energy to go unused.
Smart Energy Management, Day and Night
Through the Smappee App, the homeowner can monitor solar production, battery status and vehicle charging in real time.
"Many customers check the app throughout the day," says Martens. "With today's energy prices, that information has become genuinely valuable."
Smappee at Bumaco's Offices
Bumaco is also using Smappee within its own operations. As the company's vehicle fleet becomes increasingly electric, Smappee provides charging solutions both at the company's premises and at employees' homes for company lease vehicles.