To reach the 20-20-20 goals set by EU in 2009, all parts of the electricity system must be made more efficient. The previous fit-and-forget system must be left behind for a more active grid design. This also means that end-users must become an active part of the power grid. Consumers should be able to actively sell and buy their own energy and control their own usage of energy, or allow for a third party to handle this. A large part of the smart grid will be realized by using computer technology and telecommunication, which can send information to the different parts of the electricity grid. This makes it possible to make complex decisions, based on large quantities of collected data, concerning the most beneficial grid control decisions. This also enables energy efficiency throughout the entire electricity grid, all the way from production through transmission and distribution, including customer premises. This will help Finland reach the 202020 goals, but also achieve a function of the electricity grid that aligns with today’s expectations and demand for functionality.
In this thesis the features that may arise from the development of a new smarter electricity grid has been investigated and how these functions align with the ordinary electricity consumers' interest and expectations on functionality. Demand response, distributed generation, energy storage systems, home automation systems and interactive user interfaces are some of the discussed features. The behavior of the end-users was researched through literature studies and by analyzing customer contacts at Fortum. The analysis showed two main reasons for contacting Fortum. Forced contacts, like customers moving, are matters that could be solved to some extent by interactive user-interfaces. The investigative contacts showed customer interest in electricity prices and agreements but also problems with understanding the electricity bill. In this thesis the Rogers' model for diffusion of innovations has also been described and used to analyze smart grid and smart house technology. The main result of the thesis is the definition of a collection of smart house functionalities that would serve as a good base for the development of added value services.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format
