B Ballard Asare-Bediako

Integrated energy optimization with smart home energy management systems

Optimization of energy use is a vital concept in providing solutions to many of the energy challenges in our world today. Large chemical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and electrical systems require energy efficiency as one of the important aspects of operating systems. At the micro-scale, the built environment experiences progressive changes in energy consumption. There is steady increase in the annual energy consumption of households as a result of population growth, increase of economic activity and increased use of domestic appliances. The drive to reduce this growing trend has stimulated many mechanisms such as the use of energy labels on domestic appliances. Home appliance manufacturers research into developing energy-efficient products with the end-goal of making consumer devices more energy efficient. One important step towards energy efficiency and savings in the built environment is the introduction of Smart Home Energy Management Systems. (SHEMS). This paper analyses how the implementation of such solutions could contribute to energy savings and enhance efficiency for residential customers. The paper presents a general overview of energy efficiency measures focusing on residential loads. It further highlights, via modelling and simulation the potentials of Smart Home Energy Management Solutions for future domestic applications.

Home energy management systems: Evolution, trends and frameworks

The incentive and motivation to manage energy at the household level is influenced by commercial and technical reasons. Commercially, it offers the otherwise passive residential customer to be active in the energy market. The technical aspect enables them to provide support to the network operator through demand response, peak shaving and load shifting measures as well as provide ancillary services. There are pilot projects demonstrating advantages of functional home energy management systems. Also important are the socio-economic impacts of such systems, an aspect though often overlooked. This paper reviews the concept of energy management systems for residential customers and looks into the background of smart home energy management system technologies. It highlights the major components, and comparatively analyzes various technological approaches. It also discusses some of the concerns and challenges such as cost, implementation and privacy issues of smart technologies and makes suggests a framework for future systems.

Multi-agent system architecture for smart home energy management and optimization

The smart grid concept is not limited to the public network but it is also envisioned in the residential setting. The integration of automation technologies into home is being driven by comfort and economic benefits to homeowners. The shift towards dynamic electricity pricing and demand response application for residential customers implies that the traditional building control strategies are no longer sufficient and flexible enough. A smarter and more efficient, flexible and intelligent energy management system is therefore required. Agent-based systems which implement distributed intelligence are capable of solving such complex and dynamic decision processes. This paper proposes a multi-agent based architecture for optimal energy management in smart homes. Four optimization strategies - comfort, cost, green (energy-efficient) and smart (demand side management) - are proposed and explained. The strategies are expected to provide savings (energy and cots), flexibility and control to homeowners in their energy use, and to support utility companies in the management of the electricity network.

Predictive control of a domestic freezer for real-time demand response applications

Demand side management and demand response aim to maximize the efficiency of the electricity delivery process by exploiting the flexibility of customers. At residential level, demand response can be applied only to a limited number of appliances, through load management, due to user intervention or dedicated automated actions. One category of appliances which concur well with demand response is the thermostatically controlled appliances. They operate in cycles and maintain the temperature of a process around a set-point and within certain temperature limits. When demand response is applied, the thermostatically controlled appliance is utilized as an energy buffer and a temporary increase or decrease in power and energy consumption is induced. This work focuses on the application of demand response to the operation of a typical domestic freezer. Real-time predictive control models are developed for this application and are validated during practical experiments.

Day-ahead residential load forecasting with artificial neural networks using smart meter data

Load forecasting is an important operational procedure for the electric industry particularly in a liberalized, deregulated environment. It enables the prediction of utilization of assets, provides input for load/supply balancing and supports optimal energy utilization. Current residential load forecasting is mainly based on the use of synthetic load profiles due to lack of or insufficient historical data. However, the advent of smart meters presents an opportunity for making accurate residential load forecasting possible. In this paper artificial neural networks are used with weather data and historical smart meter data for day-ahead load prediction. Extensive error analyses are performed on the model to investigate the suitability of the model for day-ahead prediction. The forecast model can be implemented by energy suppliers and distributed system operators for submission of day-ahead bids and for management of network assets respectively.

DC micro-grid with distributed generation for rural electrification

This paper investigates the use of low voltage DC distribution network for rural electrification within an intelligent grid concept. The goal is to provide local communities in sparsely populated areas with electricity supply generated from renewable energy sources. Since these communities subsist with no grid connectivity, they require a concept of micro-grid whereby individual Solar Home Systems (SHS) can be connected. The excess power required by any SHS is supplied from the grid to make the system more reliable. Furthermore, people who cannot afford Solar Home System can connect themselves with the grid as well and get access to the basic need of electricity. In this work a power flow supervision system has been investigated based on domestic and grid level DC electrical systems with MATLAB/Simulink as software supporting platforms. The length of the grid and the number of the Solar Home System deeply affect the load behavior of the network. So it is suggested that a detailed study has to be performed before implementing this new concept.

Distributed energy resources for a zero-energy neighborhood

Zero energy buildings are on the increasing trend. They are perceived as appropriate technology to reducing CO2 emissions, improving energy efficiency and alleviating energy poverty. The main goal is that a grid-connected building produces enough energy on site to equal or exceed its annual energy requirement while using the grid as a buffer. Many municipalities see this concept as a prospective solution for developing future neighborhoods and thereby aim to develop a neighborhood with net zero energy concept. This paper proposes passive designs measures and distributed power generations required in designing such a neighborhood.

Incorporating solar home systems for smart grid applications

Smart Grids have been one of the prime focuses of studies for the past few years on power systems. The goal is to make the power infrastructure more reliable and effective to cater for the needs of the future. Another goal for improving the power infrastructure is to incorporate renewable energy sources in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The popularity of solar PV has increased in recent times which has lead to exponential growth in the installed solar PV. This paper compares four possible scenarios for incorporating household solar PV systems into the power grid. It discusses the properties of each scenario along with their advantages and disadvantages. An effective system layout can be obtained by choosing the suitable case for incorporation of solar home systems according to the requirements.

Application of smart grid technologies in developing areas

The United Nations has set the ambitious goal of assuring universal access to modern energy by 2030. Nowadays there are a lot of technical opportunities available to achieve these goals in an efficient way using smart grid technologies. However the extent to which these technologies are being applied in developing areas is still limited, but growing. In this paper this is illustrated taking Angola as example. The energy strategy in Angola is analyzed, focusing on the applications and the opportunities of smart grid technologies in this context, and describing the role of the government and private sector in this field. Lighting, one of the first applications used after access to electricity, is an important factor in the design of local electricity grids. New lighting technologies can increase grid reliability while ensuring safe and secure lighting. The opportunities and applications of smart lighting solutions in Angola are investigated in this paper as well.