Design and Implementation of ZigBee-based Standby Power Reduction System by User Presence at Different Zones

Abstract

As one of the resolutions for energy shortage, policies related to standby power consumption are enacted and exercised in countries like Australia, Europe, Japan, and Korea, concentrating on the development of standby power cutoff devices and systems. Existing standby power control systems are constructed either at the center of a house to collectively cut off and supply the entire standby power, or individually controlled by a consent type standby power cutoff device at each home appliance. These power controls cause the inconvenience of a manual switch operation by a user. To solve this problem, a human body detection sensor type consent integrating user presence sensor and power measurement sensor as module has been developed. This device, though supplying standby power by way of user access, is cumbersome in that it requires the user’s consent to resupply standby power that has been once cut off. This study intends to develop a ZigBee-based standby power reduction system that can maximize user convenience and can reduce power consumption by actively controlling standby power per user presence in different zones and running of home appliances. For the performance evaluation of the developed system, a test was conducted by installing user presence detection sensors, powermeter, and control system in the actual residences, while a performance comparison was carried out between an existing system and a proposed system in this study based on a virtual scenario.