Consumer-oriented Smart Grid for Energy Efficiency

Inhalt:
The global market faces a large expansion of available solutions for residential power management and energy conservation that can be easily integrated into the smart grid. Unfortunately, most of these solutions lack the capability to make automated power saving decisions which do not require a user to intervene. In this paper we present an intelligent device-level energy monitoring and managing platform for the residential use. The platform is mainly based on interactive wireless electrical infrastructure, smart outlets and smart light switches, which provide low installation costs. As opposed to conventional smart home solutions that utilize a complex set of sensors for human detection, user awareness is achieved without specific sensor devices, only by analyzing and quantifying radio signal strength variations at the inputs of radio transceivers embedded in smart nodes. The automation is achieved by interpreting user-defined behavioural patterns, which enable the platform to be used for various setups of an environment. The platform intelligently controls power consumption of appliances, contributing to energy savings in the household.