Design and Evaluation of a Residential Smart Energy Management System
Author | : Brian Paul Stalling |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 486 |
Release | : 2012 |
Genre | : Demand-side management (Electric utilities) |
ISBN | : 9781303005527 |
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With the growing energy consumption of residential homes and the emergence of time-of-use (TOU) and real-time electricity pricing, there is need for a system that will intelligently manage energy usage at the residential level. Such a system would automatically manage the use of onsite energy resources, such as photovoltaic (PV) arrays and battery storage, to reduce the home's grid energy consumption when the electricity price is high. This will yield savings for both the home owner and utility company. Additionally, this system would incorporate other data and interfaces such as weather data, home user preferences, load monitoring and management, communications with the utility company, and uninterruptible power during a grid outage. Current available systems do not provide such capabilities and require much user interface and control. Research has been done to design, develop, and evaluate a smart energy management system with such capabilities for a residential home. Certain design goals and requirements of the energy management system, named "Smart Green Power Node" (SGPN), were considered when choosing the overall topology. The hardware includes both low-voltage (LV) and high-voltage (HV) DC/DC converters, some of which are bidirectional, as well as a bidirectional grid-tied inverter. This hardware has been designed, built, and tested. The obtained results conclude that the hardware design meets the system's various requirements and illustrates recommended changes for future work. The system's design outlines challenges such as maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control and power flow control that are to be considered in future work.