A Smart Platform for Monitoring and Managing Energy Harvesting in Household Systems

Teodora Sanislav (), George D. Mois, Sherali Zeadally, Silviu Folea and Horia Hedesiu
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Teodora Sanislav: Automation Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
George D. Mois: Automation Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sherali Zeadally: College of Communication and Information, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
Silviu Folea: Automation Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Horia Hedesiu: Department of Electrical Machines and Drives, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: To address global warming challenges, industry, transportation, residential, and other sectors must adapt to reduce the greenhouse effect. One promising solution is the use of renewable energy and energy-saving mechanisms. This paper analyzes several renewable energy sources and storage systems, taking into consideration the possibility of integrating them with smart homes. The integration process requires the development of smart home energy management systems coupled with renewable energy and energy storage elements. Furthermore, a real-life solar energy power plant composed of programmable components was designed and mounted on the roof of a single-family residential building. Based on a long-term analysis of its operation, the main advantages and disadvantages of the proposed implementation solution are highlighted, exemplifying the concepts presented in the paper. Being composed of programmable components, which allow the implementation of custom algorithms and monitoring applications to optimize its operation, the system will be used as a prototyping platform in future research. The evaluation of the developed system over a period of one year showed that, even when using a basic implementation such as the one in this paper, significant savings regarding a household’s energy consumption can be achieved (36% of the energy bought from the supplier, meaning EUR 545 from a total of EUR 1497). Finally, based on the analysis of the developed prototype system, the main technical challenges that must be addressed in the future to efficiently manage renewable energy storage and use in today’s smart homes were identified.

Keywords: energy management systems; energy storage; power systems; renewable energy; smart homes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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