eCost - Epex Spot AT Electricity Price Overview
eCost is a data-driven analysis tool for categorizing and visualizing Epex Spot AT electricity prices with automated data collection and classification.
Project Overview
eCost was developed to analyze and visualize electricity price fluctuations in the Epex Spot AT market. The main goal is to optimize energy consumption through intelligent load distribution – specifically shifting server operations to cost-effective time windows and using battery storage during high-price phases.
Technical Architecture
The system is based on a serverless architecture with the following components:
- An automated cron job on Vercel that queries the Epex Spot AT API daily
- A data processing module that normalizes and categorizes price data
- A MongoDB Atlas database for persistent storage of time series
- A NextJS-based visualization layer with interactive charts
Data Processing and Algorithm
The core of the system is the categorization algorithm that classifies electricity prices into three categories:
- Cheap (Green): Prices in the lower third of the rolling 7-day average
- Normal (Yellow): Prices in the middle range
- Expensive (Red): Prices in the upper third
This classification enables quick visual assessment of the price situation and forms the basis for automated decision-making processes in energy management.
Serverless Deployment
A particular technical challenge was implementing the data collection process as a serverless function. By using Vercel's cron job functionality, a cost-efficient solution without dedicated server infrastructure was realized. The function is executed daily to collect current price data and write it to the database.
Technologies Used
- NextJS for frontend and API routes
- Vercel for hosting and serverless functions
- MongoDB Atlas for data persistence
- Chart.js for data visualization
- TailwindCSS for responsive UI design
Future Development
The following extensions are planned for future versions:
- Integration of a forecasting component based on machine learning
- Development of an API for connection to home automation systems
- Implementation of notification functions for extreme price fluctuations
Visual Representation
