Occupancy Controlled Lighting System for Smart Buildings

Efficient utilization of the limited available energy in developing countries is a practical solution to the present challenges facing the power sector in the region. Automation of lighting systems in both residential and industrial buildings is one of the strategies for energy efficiency towards a sustainable economic development. In this paper, the authors developed an intelligent lighting system using occupancy control. The prototype consists of an Arduino uno microcontroller, Infrared module, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), relay, buzzer, and a light bulb. The infrared module senses human presence in a room and transmits a corresponding electrical signal to the Arduino. The relay was connected to the Arduino to act as the control unit. The programmable microcontroller was also used to keep track of the number of people in the room while the information is displayed on the LCD. The system achieved a significant energy saving by switching ON the light bulb only when it is really needed. A large-scale implementation of this smart application in residential and office buildings will encourage energy efficiency, making electrical energy available for other areas which are yet to be connected to the power grid. Aderemi A. Atayero, Victor Ademu-Eteh, Segun I. Popoola, Temitope O. Takpor, and Joke A. Badej

Beyond Power over Ethernet : the development of Digital Energy Networks for buildings

Alternating current power distribution using analogue control and safety devices has been the dominant process of power distribution within our buildings since the electricity industry began in the late 19th century. However, with advances in digital technology, the seeds of change have been growing over the last decade. Now, with the simultaneous dramatic fall in power requirements of digital devices and corresponding rise in capability of Power over Ethernet, an entire desktop environment can be powered by a single direct current (dc) Ethernet cable. Going beyond this, it will soon be possible to power entire office buildings using dc networks. This means the logic of “one-size fits all” from the existing ac system is no longer relevant and instead there is an opportunity to redesign the power topology to be appropriate for different applications, devices and end-users throughout the building. This paper proposes a 3-tier classification system for the topology of direct current microgrids in commercial buildings – called a Digital Energy Network or DEN. The first tier is power distribution at a full building level (otherwise known as the microgrid); the second tier is power distribution at a room level (the nanogrid); and the third tier is power distribution at a desktop or appliance level (the picogrid). An important aspect of this classification system is how the design focus changes for each grid. For example; a key driver of the picogrid is the usability of the network – high data rates, and low power requirements; however, in the microgrid, the main driver is high power and efficiency at low cost

Neural Network Based Dimming Level Control of LED Network

Energy crisis is one of the major problems faced by many countries in the world which hinder their development process as energy supply forms the basis of production of goods in various fields. Production of energy and its conservation plays a vital role in ascending the steps towards development. Avoiding wastage of energy and conserving is equally importance as production of the same. Energy utilized for lighting purpose sums up to a considerable part in the overall energy consumed. Effective and efficient lighting helps in reducing the unwanted excessive energy that is wasted. Smart illuminance control techniques concentrates on providing effective illuminance at a work place by varying the dimming levels of the networked luminaires. Many conventional illuminance control methods are available such as open loop control approach, closed loop control approach, zoning approach etc. A neural network based illuminance control strategy is proposed in this paper in which a back propagation algorithm is used to train the neural network based controller that effectively controls the dimming levels of the networked luminaires to provide required luminance at the workspace. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15020

A Practical Review to Support the Implementation of Smart Solutions within Neighbourhood Building Stock

The construction industry has witnessed an increase in the use of digital tools and smart solutions, particularly in the realm of building energy automation. While realising the potential benefits of smart cities, a broader scope of smart initiatives is required to support the transition from smart buildings towards smart neighbourhoods, which are considered critical urban development units. To support the interplay of smart solutions between buildings and neighbourhoods, this study aimed to collect and review all the smart solutions presented in existing scientific articles, the technical literature, and realised European projects. These solutions were classified into two main sections, buildings and neighbourhoods, which were investigated through five domains: building-energy-related uses, renewable energy sources, water, waste, and open space management. The quantitative outcomes demonstrated the potential benefits of implementing smart solutions in areas ranging from buildings to neighbourhoods. Moreover, this research concluded that the true enhancement of energy conservation goes beyond the building’s energy components and can be genuinely achieved by integrating intelligent neighbourhood elements owing to their strong interdependencies. Future research should assess the effectiveness of these solutions in resource conservation

Streetlight Control System Based on Wireless Communication over DALI Protocol

Public lighting represents a large part of the energy consumption of towns and cities. Efficient management of public lighting can entail significant energy savings. This work presents a smart system for managing public lighting networks based on wireless communication and the DALI protocol. Wireless communication entails significant economic savings, as there is no need to install new wiring and visual impacts and damage to the facades of historical buildings in city centers are avoided. The DALI protocol uses bidirectional communication with the ballast, which allows its status to be controlled and monitored at all times. The novelty of this work is that it tackles all aspects related to the management of public lighting: a standard protocol, DALI, was selected to control the ballast, a wireless node based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard with a DALI interface was designed, a network layer that considers the topology of the lighting network has been developed, and lastly, some user-friendly applications for the control and maintenance of the system by the technical crews of the different towns and cities have been developed

A Viable Residential DC Microgrid for Low Income Communities – Architecture, Protection and Education

The availability of fossil fuels in the future and the environmental effects such as the carbon footprint of the existing methodologies to produce electricity is an increasing area of concern. In rural areas of under-developed parts of the world, the problem is lack of access to electrification. DC microgrids have become a proven solution to electrification in these areas with demonstrated exceptional quality of power, high reliability, efficiency, and simplified integration between renewable energy sources (principally solar PV) and energy storage. In the United States, a different problem occurs that can be addressed with the same DC microgrid approach that is finding success internationally. In disinvested, underserved communities with high unemployment and low wages, households contribute a significant portion of their income towards the fixed cost of their electrical utility connection, which by law must be supplied to every household. In order to realize such a microgrid in these communities, there are three major areas which need to be accounted for. Firstly, there needs to be a custom architecture for the community under consideration and it needs to be economical to match the needs of the underserved community. Secondly, DC microgrid for home energy interconnection is potentially less complex and less expensive to deploy, operate and maintain however, faster protection is a key element to ensuring resilience, viability and adoptability. Lastly, these types of efforts will be sustainable only if the people in the community are educated and invested in the same as they are the key stakeholders in these systems. This dissertation presents an approach to make the DC Microgrid economically feasible for low income households by reducing the cost they incur on electric bills. The approach is to overlay a DC system into homes that have a utility feed in order to incorporate renewable energy usage into an urban setting for the express purpose of driving down individual household utility costs. The results show that the incorporation of a certain level of “smart” appliances and fixtures into the renovation of vacated homes and the use of a microgrid to enable sharing of renewable energy, such as solar power combined with energy storage, between homes in the proposed architecture yields the least expensive option for the patrons. The development of solid state circuit breakers that interface between the microgrid and the home DC power panels helps in faster protection of the DC system. In this dissertation, a SiC JFET based device is designed and built to protect against DC faults at a faster rate than the available solutions. The prototype is tested for verification and used to discriminate against short circuit faults and the results show the successful fault discrimination capabilities of the device. A basic system level simulation with the protection device is implemented using Real Time Hardware in the loop platform. Finally, as a part of engaging the community members, the high school kids in the area who might potentially be living in some of the houses in this community are being educated about the microgrid, appliances and other technologies to get a better understanding of STEM and hopefully inspiring them to pursue a career in STEM in the future

A Viable Residential DC Microgrid for Low Income Communities – Architecture, Protection and Education

The availability of fossil fuels in the future and the environmental effects such as the carbon footprint of the existing methodologies to produce electricity is an increasing area of concern. In rural areas of under-developed parts of the world, the problem is lack of access to electrification. DC microgrids have become a proven solution to electrification in these areas with demonstrated exceptional quality of power, high reliability, efficiency, and simplified integration between renewable energy sources (principally solar PV) and energy storage. In the United States, a different problem occurs that can be addressed with the same DC microgrid approach that is finding success internationally. In disinvested, underserved communities with high unemployment and low wages, households contribute a significant portion of their income towards the fixed cost of their electrical utility connection, which by law must be supplied to every household. In order to realize such a microgrid in these communities, there are three major areas which need to be accounted for. Firstly, there needs to be a custom architecture for the community under consideration and it needs to be economical to match the needs of the underserved community. Secondly, DC microgrid for home energy interconnection is potentially less complex and less expensive to deploy, operate and maintain however, faster protection is a key element to ensuring resilience, viability and adoptability. Lastly, these types of efforts will be sustainable only if the people in the community are educated and invested in the same as they are the key stakeholders in these systems. This dissertation presents an approach to make the DC Microgrid economically feasible for low income households by reducing the cost they incur on electric bills. The approach is to overlay a DC system into homes that have a utility feed in order to incorporate renewable energy usage into an urban setting for the express purpose of driving down individual household utility costs. The results show that the incorporation of a certain level of “smart” appliances and fixtures into the renovation of vacated homes and the use of a microgrid to enable sharing of renewable energy, such as solar power combined with energy storage, between homes in the proposed architecture yields the least expensive option for the patrons. The development of solid state circuit breakers that interface between the microgrid and the home DC power panels helps in faster protection of the DC system. In this dissertation, a SiC JFET based device is designed and built to protect against DC faults at a faster rate than the available solutions. The prototype is tested for verification and used to discriminate against short circuit faults and the results show the successful fault discrimination capabilities of the device. A basic system level simulation with the protection device is implemented using Real Time Hardware in the loop platform. Finally, as a part of engaging the community members, the high school kids in the area who might potentially be living in some of the houses in this community are being educated about the microgrid, appliances and other technologies to get a better understanding of STEM and hopefully inspiring them to pursue a career in STEM in the future