Design and Evaluation of a Next Generation Residential Energy Management System

This paper introduces the concept, development, and evaluation of the next generation in demand side energy management. An integrated hardware/software 2 kW prototype has been designed, built, and currently undergoing testing. The Smart Green Power Node (SGPN) features a modular architecture such that it can be customized for user-specific applications. Additionally, the SGPN incorporates necessary data such as weather for projected PV generation, user input, hardware status and load profile information, as well as a TOU pricing schedule as inputs to a novel system control algorithm. Compared to commercial energy management systems that exist, this system effectively eliminates the need for human interaction by processing the described data and intelligently controlling the charging/discharging of onsite resources in conjunction with the electric grid to yield economic savings for the home owner as well as the utility.