Home Energy Management Controller Research Articles

Efficient Scheduling of Home Energy Management Controller (HEMC) Using Heuristic Optimization Techniques

The main problem for both the utility companies and the end-used is to efficiently schedule the home appliances using energy management to optimize energy consumption. The microgrid, macro grid, and Smart Grid (SG) are state-of-the-art technology that is user and environment-friendly, reliable, flexible, and controllable. Both utility companies and end-users are interested in effectively utilizing different heuristic optimization techniques to address demand-supply management efficiently based on consumption patterns. Similarly, the end-user has a greater concern with the electricity bills, how to minimize electricity bills, and how to reduce the Peak to Average Ratio (PAR). The Home Energy Management Controller (HEMC) is integrated into the smart grid, by providing many benefits to the end-user as well to the utility. In this research paper, we design an efficient HEMC system by using different heuristic optimization techniques such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), and Wind Driven Optimization (WDO), to address the problem stated above. We consider a typical home, to have a large number of appliances and an on-site renewable energy generation and storage system. As a key contribution, here we focus on incentive-based programs such as Demand Response (DR) and Time of Use (ToU) pricing schemes which restrict the end-user energy consumption during peak demands. From the results figures, it is clear that our HEMC not only schedules all the appliances but also generates optimal patterns for energy consumption based on the ToU pricing scheme. As a secondary contribution, deploying an efficient ToU scheme benefits the end-user by paying minimum electricity bills, while considering user comfort, at the same time benefiting utilities by reducing the peak demand. From the graphs, it is clear that HEMC using GA shows better results than WDO and BPSO, in energy consumption and electricity cost, while BPSO is more prominent than WDO and GA by calculating PAR.

A Novel Robust Smart Energy Management and Demand Reduction for Smart Homes Based on Internet of Energy.

In residential energy management (REM), Time of Use (ToU) of devices scheduling based on user-defined preferences is an essential task performed by the home energy management controller. This paper devised a robust REM technique capable of monitoring and controlling residential loads within a smart home. In this paper, a new distributed multi-agent framework based on the cloud layer computing architecture is developed for real-time microgrid economic dispatch and monitoring. In this paper the grey wolf optimizer (GWO), artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization algorithm-based Time of Use (ToU) pricing model is proposed to define the rates for shoulder-peak and on-peak hours. The results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed the grey wolf optimizer (GWO), artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization algorithm based ToU pricing scheme. A Raspberry Pi3 based model of a well-known test grid topology is modified to support real-time communication with open-source IoE platform Node-Red used for cloud computing. Two levels communication system connects microgrid system, implemented in Raspberry Pi3, to cloud server. The local communication level utilizes IP/TCP and MQTT is used as a protocol for global communication level. The results demonstrate and validate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, as well as the capability to track the changes of load with the interactions in real-time and the fast convergence rate.

Optimal residence energy management with time and device-based preferences using an enhanced binary grey wolf optimization algorithm

In residential energy management (REM), time of use (TOU) of appliances scheduling based on user-defined preferences is an essential task performed by the home energy management controller. This paper devised a robust REM technique capable of monitoring and controlling residential loads within a smart home. The method is based on an improved binary grey wolf accretive satisfaction algorithm (GWASA), which is developed based on four hypotheses that allow time-varying preferences to be quantifiable in terms of time and device-dependent features. Based on household appliances TOU, the absolute satisfaction derived from the preferences of appliance and power ratings, the GWASA can produce optimum energy consumption pattern that will give the customer maximum satisfaction at the predefined user budget. A cost per unit satisfaction index is also established to relate daily consumer expenses with the achieved satisfaction. Simulation results on three peak budgets from $1.5/day to $2.5/day with a step size of $0.5 are carried out to analyze the efficacy of GWASA. Accordingly, the result of each of the scenario is compared with the result obtained from three other different algorithms, namely, BPSO, BGA, BGWO. The simulation results reveal that the proposed demand side residential management based on GWASA offers the least cost per unit satisfaction and maximum percentage satisfaction in each scenario.

An Innovative Optimization Strategy for Efficient Energy Management With Day-Ahead Demand Response Signal and Energy Consumption Forecasting in Smart Grid Using Artificial Neural Network

In this study, a novel framework is proposed for efficient energy management of residential buildings to reduce the electricity bill, alleviate peak-to-average ratio (PAR), and acquire the desired trade-off between the electricity bill and user-discomfort in the smart grid. The proposed framework is an integrated framework of artificial neural network (ANN) based forecast engine and our proposed day-ahead grey wolf modified enhanced differential evolution algorithm (DA-GmEDE) based home energy management controller (HEMC). The forecast engine forecasts price-based demand response (DR) signal and energy consumption patterns and HEMC schedules smart home appliances under the forecasted pricing signal and energy consumption pattern for efficient energy management. The proposed DA-GmEDE based strategy is compared with two benchmark strategies: day-ahead genetic algorithm (DA-GA) based strategy, and day-ahead game-theory (DA-game-theoretic) based strategy for performance validation. Moreover, extensive simulations are conducted to test the effectiveness and productiveness of the proposed DA-GmEDE based strategy for efficient energy management. The results and discussion illustrate that the proposed DA-GmEDE strategy outperforms the benchmark strategies by 33.3% in terms of efficient energy management.

Multi Objective Based Framework for Energy Management of Smart Micro-Grid

The increasing demand of energy in the traditional grids is getting more complex, less feasible, harmful, uneconomical and high in power losses. This paper presents an efficient energy management approach to mitigate such issues with smart micro grid (SMG) and aims at a solution that is both cost effective and eco-friendly, within energy market paradigm. Goals are achieved with the help of Home Energy Management Controller (HEMC), Energy Market Management Controller (EMMC) and Control Agent (CA). The individual load is managed in the presence of local generation, storage system, user comfort, DGs and Utility within energy market paradigm. Two level energy management approach is proposed to achieve concerned goals. First is to manage load and schedule storage with respect to individual local generation and market pricing. Second is to manage energy market with the help of four different types of priorities and control agent input. The problem is solved with a variant of meta-heuristic method, Multi Objective Grey Wolf Optimization (MOGWO), which gives more comprehensive solution by comparing with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The proposed methodology is implemented on a SMG based-community test system. Homes within that community have different economic conditions and personal priorities. Simulation results demonstrates achievement of aimed goals in presented work.

A Modular Framework for Optimal Load Scheduling under Price-Based Demand Response Scheme in Smart Grid

With the emergence of the smart grid (SG), real-time interaction is favorable for both residents and power companies in optimal load scheduling to alleviate electricity cost and peaks in demand. In this paper, a modular framework is introduced for efficient load scheduling. The proposed framework is comprised of four modules: power company module, forecaster module, home energy management controller (HEMC) module, and resident module. The forecaster module receives a demand response (DR), information (real-time pricing scheme (RTPS) and critical peak pricing scheme (CPPS)), and load from the power company module to forecast pricing signals and load. The HEMC module is based on our proposed hybrid gray wolf-modified enhanced differential evolutionary (HGWmEDE) algorithm using the output of the forecaster module to schedule the household load. Each appliance of the resident module receives the schedule from the HEMC module. In a smart home, all the appliances operate according to the schedule to reduce electricity cost and peaks in demand with the affordable waiting time. The simulation results validated that the proposed framework handled the uncertainties in load and supply and provided optimal load scheduling, which facilitates both residents and power companies.

Towards Optimization of Metaheuristic Algorithms for IoT Enabled Smart Homes Targeting Balanced Demand and Supply of Energy

Internet of Things enabled smart grid (SG) is one of the most advanced technologies, which plays a key role in maintaining a balance between demand and supply by implementing demand response (DR) program. In SG, the main focus of the researchers is on home energy management (HEM) system, which is called demand side management. Appliance scheduling is an integral part of HEM system as it manages energy demand according to supply, by automatically controlling the appliances and shifting the load from peak to off peak hours. In this paper, the comparative performance of HEM controller embedded with heuristic algorithms, such as harmony search algorithm, enhanced differential evolution, and harmony search differential evolution, is evaluated. The integration of renewable energy source (RES) in SG makes the performance of HEM system more efficient. The electricity consumption in peak hours usually creates peaks and increases the cost but integration of RES makes the electricity consumer able to use the appliances in the peak hours. We formulate our problem using multiple knapsack theory that the maximum capacity of the consumer of electricity must be in the range, which is bearable for consumer with respect to electricity bill. Feasible regions are computed to validate the formulated problem. Finally, simulation of the proposed techniques is conducted in MATLAB to validate the performance of proposed scheduling algorithms in terms of cost, peak-to-average ratio, and waiting time minimization.

Performance Analysis of Hybridization of Heuristic Techniques for Residential Load Scheduling

With the emergence of the smart grid, both consumers and electricity providing companies can benefit from real-time interaction and pricing methods. In this work, a smart power system is considered, where consumers share a common energy source. Each consumer is equipped with a home energy management controller (HEMC) as scheduler and a smart meter. The HEMC keeps updating the utility with the load profile of the home. The smart meter is connected to a power grid having an advanced metering infrastructure which is responsible for two-way communication. Genetic teaching-learning based optimization, flower pollination teaching learning based optimization, flower pollination BAT and flower pollination genetic algorithm based energy consumption scheduling algorithms are proposed. These algorithms schedule the loads in order to shave the peak formation without compromising user comfort. The proposed algorithms achieve optimal energy consumption profile for the home appliances equipped with sensors to maximize the consumer benefits in a fair and efficient manner by exchanging control messages. Control messages contain energy consumption of consumer and real-time pricing information. Simulation results show that proposed algorithms reduce the peak-to-average ratio by 34.56% and help the users to reduce their energy expenses by 42.41% without compromising the comfort. The daily discomfort is reduced by 28.18%.

Towards Efficient Resource Utilization Exploiting Collaboration between HPF and 5G Enabled Energy Management Controllers in Smart Homes

The influence of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in power systems necessitates Smart Grid (SG) with monitoring and real-time control of electricity consumption. In SG, huge requests are generated from the smart homes in residential sector. Thus, researchers have proposed cloud based centralized and fog based semi-centralized computing systems for such requests. The cloud, unlike the fog system, has virtually infinite computing resources; however, in the cloud, system delay is the challenge for real-time applications. The prominent features of fog are; awareness of location, low latency, wired and wireless connectivity. In this paper, the impact of longer delay of cloud in SG applications is addressed. We proposed a cloud-fog based system for efficient processing of requests coming from the smart homes, their quick response and ultimately reduced cost. Each smart home is provided with a 5G based Home Energy Management Controller (HEMC). Then, the 5G-HEMC communicates with the High Performance Fog (HPF). The HPFs are capable of processing energy consumers’ huge requests. Virtual Machines (VMs) are installed on physical systems (HPFs) to entertain the requests using First Come First Service (FCFS) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms along with Optimized Response Time Policy (ORTP) for the selection of potential HPF for efficient processing of the requests with maximum resource utilization. It is analysed that size and number of virtual resources affect the performance of the computing system. In the proposed system model, micro grids are introduced in the vicinity of energy consumers for uninterrupted and cost optimized power supply. The impact of the number of VMs on the performance of HPFs is analysed with extensive simulations with three scenarios.

Time and device based priority induced comfort management in smart home within the consumer budget limitation

In demand side management (DSM), scheduling of appliances based on consumer-defined priorities is an important task performed by a home energy management controller (HEMC). This paper presents a DSM technique that is capable of controlling loads within a smart home considering time-varying appliances’ priorities. An evolutionary accretive comfort algorithm (EACA) is developed based on four postulations that allow time-varying priorities to be quantified in time and device-based features. Based on the input data considering the appliances’ power ratings, its time of use, and absolute comfort derived from priorities, the EACA is able to generate an optimal energy consumption pattern which would give maximum satisfaction at a predetermined user budget. A cost per unit comfort index (χ) which relates the consumer expenditure to the achievable comfort is also demonstrated. To test the applicability of the proposed EACA, three budget scenarios of $1.5/day, $2.0/day and $2.5/day are performed. The results of each of the scenarios using EACA are compared to five base cases in which the appliances are randomly used. The simulation results revealed that the proposed EACA obtained an optimal absolute comfort with reduced cost per unit comfort values for all three scenarios within the budget limits.

An Efficient Demand Side Management System with a New Optimized Home Energy Management Controller in Smart Grid

The traditional power grid is inadequate to overcome modern day challenges. As the modern era demands the traditional power grid to be more reliable, resilient, and cost-effective, the concept of smart grid evolves and various methods have been developed to overcome these demands which make the smart grid superior over the traditional power grid. One of the essential components of the smart grid, home energy management system (HEMS) enhances the energy efficiency of electricity infrastructure in a residential area. In this aspect, we propose an efficient home energy management controller (EHEMC) based on genetic harmony search algorithm (GHSA) to reduce electricity expense, peak to average ratio (PAR), and maximize user comfort. We consider EHEMC for a single home and multiple homes with real-time electricity pricing (RTEP) and critical peak pricing (CPP) tariffs. In particular, for multiple homes, we classify modes of operation for the appliances according to their energy consumption with varying operation time slots. The constrained optimization problem is solved using heuristic algorithms: wind-driven optimization (WDO), harmony search algorithm (HSA), genetic algorithm (GA), and proposed algorithm GHSA. The proposed algorithm GHSA shows higher search efficiency and dynamic capability to attain optimal solutions as compared to existing algorithms. Simulation results also show that the proposed algorithm GHSA outperforms the existing algorithms in terms of reduction in electricity cost, PAR, and maximize user comfort.

A new heuristically optimized Home Energy Management controller for smart grid

Recently, Home Energy Management (HEM) controllers have been widely used for residential load management in a smart grid. Generally, residential load management aims to reduce the electricity bills and also curtail the Peak-to-Average Ratio (PAR). In this paper, we design a HEM controller on the basis of four heuristic algorithms: Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), and Wind Driven Optimization (WDO). Moreover, we proposed a hybrid algorithm which is Genetic BPSO (GBPSO). All the selected algorithms are tested with the consideration of essential home appliances in Real Time Pricing (RTP) environment. Simulation results show that each algorithm in the HEM controller reduces the electricity cost and curtails the PAR. GA based HEM controller performs relatively better in term of PAR reduction; it curtails approximately 34% PAR. Similarly, BPSO based HEM controller performs relatively better in term of cost reduction, as it reduces approximately 36% cost. Moreover, GBPSO based HEM controller performs better than the other algorithms based HEM controllers in terms of both cost reduction and PAR curtailment.

Exploiting heuristic algorithms to efficiently utilize energy management controllers with renewable energy sources

In this paper, we comparatively evaluate the performance of home energy management controller which is designed on the basis of heuristic algorithms; genetic algorithm (GA), binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) and ant colony optimization (ACO). In this regard, we introduce a generic architecture for demand side management (DSM) which integrates residential area domain with smart area domain via wide area network. In addition, problem formulation is carried via multiple knapsack problem. For energy pricing, combined model of time of use tariff and inclined block rates is used. Simulation results show that all designed models for energy management act significantly to achieve our objections and proven as a cost-effective solution to increase sustainability of smart grid. GA based energy management controller performs more efficiently than BPSO based energy management controller and ACO based energy management controller in terms of electricity bill reduction, peak to average ratio minimization and user comfort level maximization.

Automated Demand Response From Home Energy Management System Under Dynamic Pricing and Power and Comfort Constraints

This paper presents a comprehensive and general optimization-based home energy management controller, incorporating several classes of domestic appliances including deferrable, curtailable, thermal, and critical ones. The operations of the appliances are controlled in response to dynamic price signals to reduce the consumer's electricity bill whilst minimizing the daily volume of curtailed energy, and therefore considering the user's comfort level. To avoid shifting a large portion of consumer demand toward the least price intervals, which could create network issues due to loss of diversity, higher prices are applied when the consumer's demand goes beyond a prescribed power threshold. The arising mixed integer nonlinear optimization problem is solved in an iterative manner rolling throughout the day to follow the changes in the anticipated price signals and the variations in the controller inputs while information is updated. The results from different realistic case studies show the effectiveness of the proposed controller in minimizing the household's daily electricity bill while preserving comfort level, as well as preventing creation of new least-price peaks.