Enhancing the efficiency of electricity utilization through home energy management systems within the smart grid framework

The concept behind smart grids is the aggregation of “intelligence” into the grid, whether through communication systems technologies that allow broadcast/data reception in real-time, or through monitoring and systems control in an autonomous way. With respect to the technological advancements, in recent years there has been a significant increment in devices and new strategies for the implementation of smart buildings/homes, due to the growing awareness of society in relation to environmental concerns and higher energy costs, so that energy efficiency improvements can provide real gains within modern society. In this perspective, the end-users are seen as active players with the ability to manage their energy resources, for example, microproduction units, domestic loads, electric vehicles and their participation in demand response events. This thesis is focused on identifying application areas where such technologies could bring benefits for their applicability, such as the case of wireless networks, considering the positive and negative points of each protocol available in the market. Moreover, this thesis provides an evaluation of dynamic prices of electricity and peak power, using as an example a system with electric vehicles and energy storage, supported by mixed-integer linear programming, within residential energy management. This thesis will also develop a power measuring prototype designed to process and determine the main electrical measurements and quantify the electrical load connected to a low voltage alternating current system. Finally, two cases studies are proposed regarding the application of model predictive control and thermal regulation for domestic applications with cooling requirements, allowing to minimize energy consumption, considering the restrictions of demand, load and acclimatization in the system

Monitorização e controlo inteligente de consumos energéticos em habitações

No decorrer dos últimos anos, tem-se verificado um aumento significativo de dispositivos e de novas propostas para a implementação de edifícios inteligentes. O contributo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento (computacional através de ferramentas de programação, e experimental com a implementação de um protótipo) de uma metodologia de monitorização e controlo inteligente com o objetivo de acionar um circuito de iluminação utilizando tecnologia sem fios ZigBee, visando a gestão de recursos energéticos no âmbito das redes elétricas inteligentes. O conceito de rede elétrica inteligente incorpora os benefícios de comunicações avançadas e tecnologias de informação para criar "inteligência" na rede e fornecer informação dos consumos em tempo real. Nesta dissertação é implementada uma rede de sensores e atuadores capaz de desempenhar funções de monitorização, recorrendo a componentes de baixo custo e tendo a sua aplicação principal em sistemas de iluminação. Este trabalho é desenvolvido de forma a demonstrar o uso desta tecnologia, implementando um protótipo capaz de acionar um circuito de atuação e controlo, ligando ou desligando qualquer dispositivo acoplado. Ainda, é realizada a análise do consumo energético em tempo real de uma habitação durante os três primeiros meses do ano, utilizando um monitor de energia inteligente. É expectável que esta dissertação possa também contribuir para a gestão da procura de energia, que irá ser um dos componentes chave das redes elétricas inteligentes.Over the recent years, there has been a significant increase in devices and new proposals for the implementation of intelligent buildings. The contribution of this work is the development (computational through programming tools, and experimental with the implementation of a prototype) of a monitoring and intelligent control methodology in order to drive a lighting circuit using wireless ZigBee technology, aiming for energy resources management in the context of smart grids. The smart grid concept incorporates the benefits of advanced communications and information technologies to create "intelligence" in the network and provide consumption information in real time. In this dissertation, a network of sensors and actuators is implemented, being able to perform monitoring functions using low cost components and having its principal application in lighting systems. This work is developed to demonstrate the use of this technology by implementing a prototype capable of driving a circuit of operation and control, turning on or off any attached devices. Moreover, the analysis of energy consumption in real time is performed for a home during the first three months of the year, using a smart energy monitor. It is expected that this work can also contribute to demand-side management, which will be a key component of smart grids