Energy aware service adaption in smart homes

At the end of 2006, the European Union (EU) pledged to cut its annual consumption of primary energy by 20% by 2020. Answering this call it will involve the promotion of a variety of solutions. Understanding this energy objective requires changes in residential consumers and householders’ behaviors and attitudes and it covers the many variables - contextual, personal, and external - that may influence an individual’s electricity consumption behavior. Included in that will be the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which encompasses technologies such as Residential Energy Management Systems (REMS). It is believed that the feedback and home automation features of the REMS will enable its users to change their electricity consumption behaviors, by means of savings and/or load shifting. This study has assessed the ability of REMS to encourage a reduction of the total and on-peak electricity consumption by making usage of a time-based pricing model. In this thesis two aspects will be highlighted. After having deeply analyzed several energy-awareness aspects, which can be related to environment of a smart home, the first objective will be that one having to do with a simple REMS system. In particular, the aim will not be that one of defining in detail each one of its components, but of highlighting the adaptivity and the service management. The second objective of this thesis will be that one regarding the definition (according to the created platform) of an algorithm being able to carry out an intelligent time planning, based on the user’s preferences, the energy cost function and the energy features of the appliance/device at issue. At last, a simple scenario will be suggested. By means of it, it will be possible to estimate the results obtained through the use of the REMS system. Firstly, a typical scenario will be presented regarding the use of some services within a smart home, without the help of the suggested algorithm. Secondly , the same scenario, got by the application of the algorithm at issue, will be described. Afterwards, an analysis and consideration phase will follow. It will be about the results, having been obtained and related to the amount of the saved energy, the cost saving got by the user and the potential advantages a energy supplier can get by promoting this REMS system use.