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ENG470: Engineering Honours Thesis
Smart Home Energy Management System
By
Kwanele Aron Demadema
Under the Supervision of
Dr. GM Shafiullah
Unit Coordinator: Prof. Parisa Bahri
H1264: Bachelor of Engineering Honours [BE (Hons)]
1. Electrical Power Engineering
2. Renewable Energy Engineering
Submitted for the School of Engineering and Information Technology
2018
i
Declaration
This thesis report is presented as part of the requirements for completing a Bachelors of Engineering
Honours degree in Electrical Power and Renewable Energy Engineering at Murdoch University. All the
work presented is of my own effort and has never been presented elsewhere. I have put my level best
in citing and acknowledging all secondary sources of information and any omissions are regretted.
Kwanele Aron Demadema
02/12/2018
ii
Abstract
The link between fossil generated electricity for home energy use and climate change means that the
ever‐rising residential energy requirements contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions
and therefore household demand also has a negative impact on the environment. As a result, home
energy management has gained significant attention over the years. The anticipated incentive to the
home energy user is household energy cost reduction while the network operator gains from peak
demand reduction. Effective Demand Response (DR) programs in the form of Smart Home Energy
Management systems have the potential to fulfill both the consumer’s and network operator’s
expectations. This project analyses the challenges of DR and the effects of incorporating local
Renewable Energy (RE) generation to a domestic installation with the aim of turning the household
into an energy neutral home whose net annual energy consumption is almost zero. Power demand
and the consumption characteristics of households through common household appliances were
investigated using smart meters and the associated load profiles. Some of Synergy’s Western
Australian (WA) electricity retail tariffs were analysed and applied to the load profile downloads to
verify the cost benefits of tariff shopping, standby mode elimination and load shifting. The Homer Pro
micro grid analysis tool was used to investigate the possibility of turning a Perth household into an
energy neutral home by attempting to match its possible loading with the most viable solar generation
system. The results show that the Power Shift (PS1) tariff was the cheapest with a 1.44% cost reduction
from the Home plan (A1) project base plan. The cost reduction analysis was performed by applying
the House 1 June load profile to all the tariffs considered in this investigation. The research results
show that it is possible to achieve an energy neutral home in WA although this would be accompanied
by high costs and regulatory restrictions. This thesis project found that about 96% renewable fraction
is achievable to typical WA households within reasonable technical, economic and regulatory
considerations.
iii
Table of Contents:
Declaration ............................................................................................................................................... i
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... ii
Table of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ viii
Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. ix
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. x
Chapter 1‐ Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.0.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................... 1
1.0.2 Background Information ..................................................................................................... 1
1.0.3 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................... 2
1.0.4 Project Aims and Objectives: ..................................................................................................... 3
1.0.5 Project Significance .................................................................................................................... 4
1.0.6 Project Outline ........................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2 – Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 5
2.0.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................... 5
2.0.2 Objectives................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1.0 The Current Smart Home Energy Management Systems (SHEMSs) .......................................... 6
2.2.0 Demand Response (DR) ................................................................................................................. 6
2.2.1 Challenges of SHEMS ................................................................................................................. 7
2.2.2 Challenges of Demand Response ............................................................................................... 8
2.3.0 Energy Neutral Homes (Net Zero Energy Homes) ......................................................................... 8
2.3.1 Incorporating Solar Photovoltaics in a smart home ................................................................ 10
2.3.2 Challenges of Integrating PVs into electricity grids ................................................................. 12
2.4.0 Smart Meters ............................................................................................................................... 13
2.4.1 Challenges of smart meters ..................................................................................................... 15
2.5.0 The Smart Home .......................................................................................................................... 16
2.5.0 Smart Sensors .......................................................................................................................... 17
2.5.1 Smart Appliances ..................................................................................................................... 18
2.6.0 Power and Energy Measurement ................................................................................................ 18
2.6.1 ICT (Information and Communication Technology) for smart homes ..................................... 19
2.6.2 User Interface (UI) .................................................................................................................... 20
2.6.3 Standards Associated with the Implementation of SHEMS ..................................................... 21
3. Project Approach .............................................................................................................................. 22
4.0.0 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 23
iv
4.0.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 23
4.0.2 Possible High Consumption Identification .................................................................................... 26
4.1.0 Typical Household Load profiles ................................................................................................... 27
4.1.1 House 1 Load Profile ................................................................................................................ 28
4.1.2 House 2 load Profile ................................................................................................................. 30
4.1.3 House 3 Load Profile ................................................................................................................ 31
4.1.4 House 4 Load Profile ................................................................................................................ 32
4.2.0 Typical Appliances’ Load Profiles .................................................................................................. 33
4.2.1 Air Conditioner ......................................................................................................................... 35
4.2.2 Television ................................................................................................................................. 36
4.2.3 Refrigerator .............................................................................................................................. 38
4.2.4 Microwave ............................................................................................................................... 40
4.2.5 Lighting ..................................................................................................................................... 41
4.2.6 Washing Machine .................................................................................................................... 43
5.0 Energy Retail Tariff Analysis ............................................................................................................ 44
5.0.1 Home Plan (A1) Tariff ............................................................................................................... 46
5.0.2 Power Shift (PS1) Tariff ............................................................................................................ 46
5.0.3 Smart Home Plan Tariff ............................................................................................................ 47
5.0.4 Smart Power (SM1) Tariff ........................................................................................................ 47
5.0.5 Tariff Comparison..................................................................................................................... 48
5.0.6 Load Shifting and Standby Mode Elimination Effect ............................................................... 49
6.0 Smart Energy Monitoring and Control ............................................................................................ 51
6.0.1 System Components ................................................................................................................. 52
6.0.2 CTX1 Smart Hub ................................................................................................................... 53
6.0.3 The Smart Plug ..................................................................................................................... 54
6.0.4 Climate Command................................................................................................................ 55
6.0.5 CTEye .................................................................................................................................... 56
7.0 Incorporation of Solar PVs and Neutral Home analysis ................................................................... 57
7.0.1 Technical and physical limitations ........................................................................................... 58
7.0.2 Homer Simulation Approach .................................................................................................... 60
8.0.0 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 69
9.0.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 69
10.0.0 References: ................................................................................................................................ 71
Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 75
Part A: EM1000 METER ..................................................................................................................... 75
Part B: CTX1 Smart Hub Specifications ............................................................................................. 79
v
Part C: CarbonTrack Smart Plug – Specification Sheet ..................................................................... 81
Part D: CarbonTrack Climate command – Product Broacher ........................................................... 83
Part E: CTeye Specification Sheet ..................................................................................................... 84
vi
Table of Figures
Figure 1 Schematic of energy flows in an electrical Energy Neutral Home [9] ....................................... 9
Figure 2 Typical Annual net import and net export curve for an installation incorporating Renewable
Energy Sources [14] .............................................................................................................................. 12
Figure 3 The Old Electromechanical meter and the Electronic meter [18] .......................................... 14
Figure 4 Components of a Smart Home Energy Management system (SHEMS) Source [6] ................ 17
Figure 5 Smart home electrical socket outlet measurement circuit layout [2] .................................... 19
Figure 6 Daily Load Profile data [2] ....................................................................................................... 21
Figure 7: Typical single Phase Electrical Meter Wiring Diagram [25] ................................................... 24
Figure 8: Appliance Energy Metering Arrangement ............................................................................. 25
Figure 9 House 1 Load Profile (3 Different Days) .................................................................................. 28
Figure 10: House 1 and Air‐Conditioner Load Profile Comparison ....................................................... 29
Figure 11: House 2 Load Profile ............................................................................................................ 30
Figure 12: House 3 Load Profile ............................................................................................................ 31
Figure 13: House 4 Load Profile (3 Separate Days) ............................................................................... 32
Figure 14: House 4 Load Profile (1 Day) ................................................................................................ 33
Figure 15: Energy Rating Label [26] ...................................................................................................... 34
Figure 16: Air‐Conditioner Load Profile ................................................................................................ 35
Figure 17: Television Load Profile ......................................................................................................... 37
Figure 18: Television (1 Day Load Profile) ............................................................................................. 37
Figure 19 : Fridge Load Profile (3 Separate Days) ................................................................................. 39
Figure 20: Fridge Load Profile (1 Day) ................................................................................................... 39
Figure 21: Microwave Load Profile ....................................................................................................... 40
Figure 22: Lighting Load Profile (3 Separate Days) ............................................................................... 41
Figure 23: Lighting Load Profile (1 Day) ................................................................................................ 42
Figure 24: Washing Machine Load profile ............................................................................................ 43
Figure 25: carbonTrack Smart Home Energy Management System Components [28] ........................ 52
Figure 26: CTX1 Smart Hub [28] ............................................................................................................ 53
Figure 27: The carbonTrack Smart Plug [28] ......................................................................................... 54
Figure 28: The carbonTrack Climate Command [28] ............................................................................ 55
Figure 29: The carbonTrack CTEye Electricity Meter [28] ..................................................................... 56
Figure 30: Homer Model Configuration ................................................................................................ 58
vii
Figure 31: The Homer most economic models ..................................................................................... 61
Figure 32: Effects of Increasing the Inverter Size ................................................................................. 62
Figure 33: Effects of setting the inverter to 5kW .................................................................................. 62
Figure 34: Effects of increasing the number batteries.......................................................................... 63
Figure 35: Effects of increasing the PV array size/number of solar panels .......................................... 63
Figure 36: Grid Only Supply Chart ......................................................................................................... 63
Figure 37:Grid only gaseous emissions ................................................................................................. 64
Figure 38: Grid and PV Supply Chart ..................................................................................................... 64
Figure 39: Grid, PV and Storage Supply Chart....................................................................................... 65
Figure 40: Grid connected configuration components responses to the load of 8/06/2018 ............... 66
Figure 41: Grid and PV system Comparison .......................................................................................... 68
Figure 42:Grid,PV and storage gaseous emissions ............................................................................... 68
viii
List of Tables
Table 1 Air‐Conditioner Standby Mode ................................................................................................ 36
Table 2: Television Standby Mode ........................................................................................................ 38
Table 3: Microwave Standby mode ...................................................................................................... 41
Table 4: Washing Machine Standby Mode ........................................................................................... 44
Table 5 Synergy‐Retail Electricity Tariffs [27] ....................................................................................... 45
Table 6 : Home Plan (A1) Tariff ............................................................................................................. 46
Table 7: Power Shift (PS1) Tariff ........................................................................................................... 46
Table 8: Smart Home Plan Tariff ........................................................................................................... 47
Table: 9 Smart Power (SM1) Tariff ........................................................................................................ 48
Table 10: Tariff Comparison .................................................................................................................. 48
Table 11: Load Shifting and Standby Mode Elimination Savings .......................................................... 50
ix
Acronyms and Abbreviations
AC Alternating Current
AMI Advanced Metering Infrastructure
DLC Direct Load Control
DR Demand Response
ICT Information and Communication Technologies
kWh kilo‐Watt hour
LV Low Voltage
PF Power Factor
PVs Photo Voltaics
RE Renewable Energy
RESs Renewable energy resources
SHEMS Smart Home Energy Management Systems
TOU Time Of Use
UI User Interface
VAC AC Voltage
Wh Watt Hour
x
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge my thesis supervisor Dr. GM Shafiullah for the guidance and
support he offered me during my research work. I would also like to acknowledge my family and
friends for the encouragement and moral support they offered for the duration of my many years of
study.
Thank You.
1
Chapter 1‐ Introduction
1.0.1 Overview
This chapter presents the project outline, background information and the project significance. The
problem statement is introduced and the research objectives, merits and demerits discussed.
Attention will be paid to the relevance of the project to a modern‐day household while the factors
that influence the adoption of the project’s proposals will also be discussed.
1.0.2 Background Information
Rising home energy demands amidst energy supply constraints have led to high energy costs.
The link between home energy use and climate change means that the ever‐rising residential
energy requirements contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions and therefore
household demand has a negative impact on the environment [1].
The term Smart Homes refers to homes enhanced with intelligent technologies capable of
interacting with each other to fulfil specific operations or tasks within the home. One of the
important tasks performed by these intelligent technologies is energy management [2].Smart
home energy management enables home occupiers to plan and distribute their energy
demands to reduce peak demand and energy costs [3].
Most economies in the world have risen to the responsibility and acceptance of the great
significance of energy management. Energy management programs have the potential to
lower the rate at which toxic gases are released to the atmosphere and thereby lowering the
effects of global warming. Well conducted energy management systems have the potential
to lower transmission line loading and thereby minimizing the chances of experiencing
2
blackouts. In general energy management is one of the tools to facilitate a Greener
environment.
Technological advancements over the years have led to the possibility of remote household
energy monitoring and control. This means that home energy users have now been afforded
the ability to monitor and control their energy consumption in ways that reduces peak
demand and energy costs. To power utility companies the effectiveness of demand response
depends on its adoption on a large scale and, this calls for massive awareness campaigns to
educate home energy users on the benefits of smart home energy management techniques.
This project will investigate the consumption characteristics of some common household
appliances and the feasibility of an energy neutral home and present a typical market
available smart energy monitoring and Control measure to reduce peak demand and
household energy bills.
1.0.3 Problem Statement
Electrical energy management has gained significant attention over time. Achieving efficient
energy management and control measures is of importance to both the power utilities and
the electricity consumers. Effective energy management and control measures have the
ability to lower energy demand and thus reduce the electrical industry’s contribution to
greenhouse gas emissions. Power utility companies need the consumption levels to be
lowered as this would improve system efficiencies without the need to undertake costly
network upgrades in order meet peak demand and thus avoid system blackouts due to
overloading. Energy consumers also need to reduce their consumption levels to reduce
household energy related expenses. The adoption of local electricity generation by
3
integrating renewable energy sources to lower household demand has great benefits,
however there still exists a potential to reduce household demand by managing household
appliance usage. In order to manage and control household appliance usage it becomes
necessary to investigate the power demand and real‐time energy consumption as well as
investigate the operating characteristics of common household appliances.
In most research work an appliance’s power consumption has often been calculated or
assumed by reference to information provided by the manufacture through the appliance’s
nameplate. This approach assumes the appliance’s power consumption to be always constant
at the appliance’s nameplate rated power. However realistically power consumption for most
household appliances often varies during operation. The investigation of energy consuming
appliances is a key step towards cultivating energy awareness and hence improving energy
usage in the household. Therefore, in order to make accurate conclusions on the research on
the consumption characteristics of household appliances it becomes necessary to use more
realistic appliance energy consumption data.
This project includes real time electrical energy measurements for 4 households in Perth,
Australia. Measurements are carried out for appliances from one of the houses. This approach
is considered to produce more realistic conclusions on the research on the consumption
characteristics of household appliances.
1.0.4 Project Aims and Objectives:
This project’s objectives are to
Measure the power demand and real‐time energy consumption as well as investigate
the operating characteristics of common household appliances through smart devices.
4
Develop a control measure to reduce energy consumption of the household in order
to reduce peak demand and energy costs.
The project will also investigate the effect of integrating roof top solar PVs to turn the
house into an energy neutral house.
1.0.5 Project Significance
There is a dire need to reduce global energy demand in order to reduce the negative
environmental impacts of electrical energy production. Amidst the ever‐rising global energy
demand and costs, there is also a great need for the various energy consumers to reduce their
energy consumption levels. The reduction in energy demand is beneficiary to at least two key
players in the energy industry that is the power utility companies and the electricity
consumers. This thesis project endeavours to develop reasonable control measures to reduce
the energy consumption of a household to reduce peak demand and energy costs. The
analysis of real time energy consumption data for individual appliances will also influence load
shifting procedures, determination of appliance running costs and the identification of faulty
household appliances.
1.0.6 Project Outline
The project begins by collecting energy profile data for selected house hold appliances in a house in
Perth, Australia. The consumption data will be analyzed for the purposes of identifying consumptions
trends that can be utilized in the formulation and selection of the most suitable home energy
management system for households. A typical market available smart energy monitoring and
Control system will be presented, and special focus will be paid on the basic components to be
included for such a system to be effective. Current energy market retail tariffs will be analyzed in order
to make a conclusion on the most cost reducing tariff to be effected in conjunction with a remote
5
smart home energy management system. The Homer Pro micro grid analysis tool will then be
used to investigate the possibility of turning a Perth household into an energy neutral home
by attempting to match its possible loading with the most viable renewable energy system
configuration.
Chapter 2 – Literature Review
2.0.1 Overview
This section discusses the terminologies, methodologies and ideas that the available literature
considers to be largely involved in the development of Smart Home Energy Management Systems
(SHEMS). It discusses the idea of SHEMS as part of demand response (DR) while the global energy crisis
and the need to progress to a greener future are presented as factors that form the backbone of the
research on energy neutral homes also known as the net zero energy homes. The section goes on to
discuss the literature on the integration of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics (PVs)
systems with the goal of achieving energy neutral homes. The smart home concept will be defined
and the functions of its major components described. Finally, energy measurement techniques are
presented and discussed.
2.0.2 Objectives
The aim of the project is to measure the power demand and real‐time energy consumption as well as
investigate the operating characteristics of common household appliances through smart devices and
develop a control measure to reduce energy consumption of the household in order to reduce peak
demand and energy costs. The project will also investigate the effect of integrating roof top solar PVs
to turn the house into an energy neutral house.
The concept of smart home energy management Systems (SHEMS) will be adopted in the
investigations that will be carried out for the purpose of achieving the project objectives.
6
2.1.0 The Current Smart Home Energy Management Systems (SHEMSs)
Most researchers define the Smart Home Energy Management System as the optimum system that
provides energy management amenities for the efficient monitoring and management of electricity
consumption in smart homes. The SHEMS are made up of coordinated communication, measuring and
censoring networks within the developed smart home. The signals and energy consumption data
obtained from the domestic smart appliances is analysed and used for energy consumption
monitoring and remote control of the smart home’s appliances. The associated load control and
consumption monitoring may also be carried out from an electronic gadget such as a smart phone or
a personal computer [4].
Recent literature acknowledges that the current improved SHEMS have become less bulky as a result
of technological advancements, and are now capable of carrying out more complex and intelligent
functions thus earning themselves the name Smart Home Energy Management Systems (SHEMS).The
SHEMS now employ the use of modern day cutting edge technology which includes the Advanced
Metering Infrastructure (AMI) which now utilises electro‐digital components and intelligent software
[5].
Although various sources agree that the current SHEMS have a wide range of functions, they still share
common goals with other types of energy management systems. In general most literature identifies
the three main common goals of energy management systems as energy conservation, energy cost
reduction and improving the quality of life [6].
2.2.0 Demand Response (DR)
From the analyses of various available literature on the concept of smart home energy management
systems it can be noticed that the SHEMS form part of DR and as a result these two terms maybe used
interchangeably.
7
In an electrical network DR is a strategy designed to prompt end users to change their usual
consumption tendencies in response to variations in the electricity unit price on a Time of Use (TOU)
tariff. Also some literature define DR as the incentives designed to encourage low energy consumption
at high market price periods or during grid instability and peak periods [7] .
Most of the available literature acknowledges that the main aim of the TOU tariff is to lower the
differences between the highs (peak shaving) and lows in the grid demand pattern and facilitate valley
filling (Load Shifting) at night times. These responses are preferred by network operators as they
reduce the chances of generator cycling and also create opportunities for the research and
development of even more intelligent SHEMS [1].
2.2.1 Challenges of SHEMS
Achieving positive end goals after the implementation of the SHEMS concept also faces some
constraints along the way. Some Research literature state that human nature presents real challenges
that are usually not anticipated in the design for SHEMS as a way of domestic energy consumption
management. They argue that residential consumers appear to be irrational in their energy use
decisions. Home occupants have a number of priorities, unfortunately reducing electricity bills may
not always be at the top of their priority list. As a result, researchers have faced challenges in
determining a typical demand behavior curve basing on home occupants’ energy data. This has been
attributed to the fact that residential energy usage patterns are dependent on various external factors
that may include weather changes and the type of appliance used. This becomes an issue when trying
to predict appliance usage patterns. Some literature mentioned an example that we may predict that
home occupants will prepare dinner with an electric cooker for most of the year yet some home
occupants may considerably be using gas cooking appliances depending on the home occupier’s
preference at a particular time [1].
Some sources have proved that providing energy consumption feedback to home occupiers has the
effect of reducing energy consumption. However other researchers are concerned that in most
8
instances consumption data does not give an insight into the level of energy efficiency of domestic
appliances. Therefore, in order to encourage home occupiers to use energy efficient appliances, it
then becomes necessary to compare appliances it terms of their energy usage. This means the
comparison of energy consumption characteristics of the same type of domestic appliances or a
comparison with reference appliances listed in highly recommended online energy efficiency related
websites [2].
The SHEMS concept is one of the concepts adopted for achieving this project’s objectives due to its
energy efficiency attributes and the fact that the concept endeavours to fulfil the utility Network
Operator’s need for efficient and reliable DR programmes.
2.2.2 Challenges of Demand Response
Contrary to the conventional demand economic model. Studies performed in 400 houses on a time of
use tariff (TOU) in Auckland New Zealand found that there were some instances when residential
demand curves exhibited insignificant demand reduction during peak periods. A similar study was
carried out in Chicago where residential customers were put on hourly variable rates. The results of
this study highlighted that there was no demand increase during cheap rate periods [1].The
unpredictable nature of demand response curves presents scheduling and planning problems to the
Network operator. The complexity of the residential side energy usage characteristics also presents
challenges to the implementation of renewable energy systems and energy efficient programs [3].
2.3.0 Energy Neutral Homes (Net Zero Energy Homes)
Various sources define the term “Energy Neutral Home”/Net Zero Home as referring to a home whose
net annual energy consumption is almost zero. This means that for a typical energy neutral home the
heating and electrical power demand is reduced and renewable energy sources are then matched to
meet this reduced demand annually. The renewable energy generator may sometimes be added on
to an existing home or come as part of the initial building design. For grid connected homes, the utility
9
network can supply energy in times when the renewable energy resource is low. This arrangement
makes it possible for the energy neutral home to export its locally produced excess energy into the
utility grid. The design of energy neutral homes makes it possible to use active energy management
techniques and renewable energy technologies e.g. solar PVs to fulfill the home’s energy requirements
[8].
The schematic in Figure 1 below gives an idea of energy flows in a typical Energy Neutral Home.
Figure 1 Schematic of energy flows in an electrical Energy Neutral Home [9]
Some of the work that has been carried out on energy neutral homes includes the Eco Terra house
built in Quebec, Canada. The house was built in 2007 with the aim of demonstrating how energy
efficient technologies, building techniques and renewable energy systems could be applied and
marketed. The house is considered to be Canada’s first Energy neutral home and it contributed to the
development of the Energy Efficient guide of Canada also known as the “EnerGuide” [10].
10
In a Smart Grid setup, smart home energy management systems (SHEMS) play a very critical role in
achieving effective DR programmes in the residential side of the network. Through the SHEMS a home
occupier has the ability to automatically control their Smart loads in response to smart grid/network
signals, load importance and personal preferences [11]
The smart grid’s ability to manage bidirectional energy flow supports the incorporation of locally
generated residential electricity. It is therefore part of this project’s objectives to also investigate the
effect of integrating roof top solar PVs to turn the house into an energy neutral home.
2.3.1 Incorporating Solar Photovoltaics in a smart home
This project will also investigate the effect of incorporating solar PVs with the aim of turning a home
into an energy neutral home. The results of this investigation will influence the extent and depth of
the investigations related to the development of control measures to reduce energy consumption of
the household in order to reduce peak demand and energy costs.
Various sources agree that the need for energy efficient homes has gained significant attention over
the years. They argue that energy efficiency is now crucial for the environment as well as for energy
conservation and economic reasons. The development of smart grids capable of demand response
makes it possible to integrate renewable energy generation sources and also facilitates efficient load
distribution and management schemes with variable energy pricing [12].
In most urban smart homes, roof top solar modules are mounted on the roofs depending on the
amount of available roof space. Most available literature concludes that the amount of available roof
space that can be utilized for the installation of solar panels determines the maximum number of solar
modules that can be installed. The number of solar modules installed also determines the maximum
electrical power that can be generated locally within the smart home environment. The electricity that
is generated from the solar PVs in a smart home is then used to meet the electrical energy demand of
the particular smart home. In grid connected solar systems, excess electrical power that would have
11
been generated is fed into the main grid via the smart meter. The exportation of excess solar
generated power from the smart home into the utility grid contributes to the total portion of
renewable energy in the electrical network and thus reduces fossil fuel demand and carbon gas
emissions [13].
Sources have identified that integrating solar PVs into a smart home is a step towards achieving an
Energy Neutral Home/Net Zero Energy home. The interaction between the home and the grid is said
to imply that after computing the difference between the imported and exported energy over a period
e.g. one year yields a net balance that is close to zero. The near zero balance is the value that is used
to describe the smart home as an Energy neutral/net zero energy home [9].
In this project, smart meter energy consumption data which will be the sum of the energy consumed
by the various domestic appliances within the installation will be analyzed. The meter data will consist
of load profiles from homes with solar PVs and those without solar PVs. Part of the analysis of the
energy data will involve a comparison between the home’s annual net energy import (consumption)
and the net energy export.
Figure 2 below shows a typical load profile curve for net import and export electricity in an installation
equipped with renewable energy sources such as the PVs sources.
12
Figure 2 Typical Annual net import and net export curve for an installation incorporating Renewable Energy Sources [14]
Also shown in the graph is the peak load, peak Generation and duration of time when the installation’s
net import and export were nearly the same for some time. The flat section of the graph shows how
long the installation lasted performing near to, or as an energy neutral home/Net zero building.
The difference between the annual imported and exported energy will reflect on the extent of the
effort needed to turn the home into an energy neutral home.
2.3.2 Challenges of Integrating PVs into electricity grids
Large scale integration of Renewable energy sources into electricity grids comes with some
challenges to the network operators who have to maintain a reliable electricity supply. In
Canada since 2004, the approach to the evaluation of integrating renewable energy sources
to their power systems has been changing. The Ontario Power Authority of Canada expressed
concerns that excess renewable energy sources would affect their transmission network. As
a result the power authority identified network areas where it would no longer approve the
integration of renewable energy generators [15].
13
Facts to be considered are that, the supply of electricity is expected to match the demand,
electricity cannot be stored economically at a larger scale and there are fluctuations in
residential power consumption patterns [5].
Renewable energy sources are intermittent energy resources and the large scale integration
of these sources into grids comes with a number of uncertainties. These challenges mean that
in order for network operators to maintain a reliable electricity supply, major technological
upgrades are required to be effected into the existing electrical infrastructure. This simply
means network operators would need to invest into the inclusion of more auxiliary services
in order to counter the effects of these uncertainties [5].
In Germany from the year 2009 to 2012 there was an incentive for generated electricity self‐
consumption. This scenario presents challenges in designing and managing energy neutral
homes with solar PVs due to the fact that there could be huge differences between market
retail and wholesale prices of electricity. This may end up promoting self‐consumption and
discouraging exportation to the grid and this condition contradicts the definition of energy
neutral homes [14].
2.4.0 Smart Meters
Current SHEMS work alongside with Smart energy meters. Smart meters are electrical digital
energy meters that have the ability to measure and record energy consumption at pre‐set
time intervals. A two way communication channel between the smart meter and the utility
server enables the smart meters to transmit data, receive and execute programmed
commands from an operator [16]. Basically the smart meter is that piece of equipment which
14
collects demand data from the domestic appliances. The smart meters in SHEMS are part of
the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) [5].
Most sources acknowledge that in the early days Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS)
employed the use of analogue instruments such as analogue meters which provided basic information
and were simple to comprehend. These type of analogue meters are now considered to be bulky in
size and yet still narrow in use [17].
Figure 3 below shows the older version of the electromechanical meter and the electronic meter.
Figure 3 The Old Electromechanical meter and the Electronic meter [18]
The AMI facilitates the exchange of information between the network operator and the domestic
consumer. The information enables the consumer to make decisions related to load shifting during
peak periods as response to variations in electricity costs [4].
15
Recent research suggests that in the near future the interaction of Smart meters and intelligent smart
grid equipment will make it possible for smart homes to respond to price warnings from the smart
grid and to initiate demand response schedules. Load management is valuable to network operators
and can help in promoting energy neutral home designs [9].
Most sources agree that the roll out of smart meters for smart homes was largely motivated by the
need to move from flat rate tariffs and to adopt policies associated with tariffs such as the time of use
tariffs (TOU) and the critical peak pricing (CCP). These tariffs have the advantage of having varying
prices for a unit of energy i.e. kWh. The price variation is introduced to promote energy efficient
household consumption behaviour and domestic load control. The tariff prices are dependent on the
energy market price and time of day. Smart meter data gives an insight of the trends of energy
consumption in a smart home, as a total of energy consumed by domestic appliances [19].
In this project energy meter data will be analysed for the purposes of fulfilling the project objectives.
2.4.1 Challenges of smart meters
According to research work conducted by Elias Leake Quinn in Colorado, Smart meters capture time
real time consumption data of a household. The distribution of smart meters comes with privacy
breach consequences. The smart meters become a source of comprehensive information regarding
the occupants’ activities. The downside of this is the availability of off the shelf software and statistical
methods capable of extracting and analyzing complex house hold consumption patterns. Apart from
the intended use of smart meter data, hackers or malicious third parties are capable of accessing real
time fine detailed usage data. Through data analysis it is possible to predict the number of occupants
in a house hold at a particular time, and entities capable of gathering large data would be able to even
predicting information regarding the occupants’ ages and genders [20].
The difference between import and export energy may be effectively reduced by turning the home
into a complete smart home. This project will then investigate the design and components of a smart
16
home in order investigate the operating characteristics of common household appliances through
smart devices with the intention to develop control measures to reduce energy consumption of the
household in order to reduce peak demand and energy costs.
2.5.0 The Smart Home
Most researchers seem to agree that definition of the term “Smart Home” evolves with time and the
current smart home is considered to be a residential place fitted with an intelligent network
connecting sensing, monitoring and control devices to domestic energy consuming appliances. The
intelligent network makes it possible to facilitate remote control and monitoring there by fulfilling the
home occupier’s needs [21].
Today the customary home has gadgets that are manually operated and controlled locally by means
of switches and push buttons. Sources point out the manual control method is limited and makes
home energy management difficult. This current condition has necessitated the development of smart
homes.
Smart Home Energy Management Systems are usually comprised of five main components namely,
smart sensors, Smart meters, smart household appliances, Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT), associated software and the User Interface forming Energy Management Systems
(EMSs). As depicted in Figure 4 below.
17
Figure 4 Components of a Smart Home Energy Management system (SHEMS) Source [6]
2.5.0 Smart Sensors
Smart sensors are one of the fundamental components of the SHEMS. The function of the sensors is
to detect those parameters and conditions that are particularly desired to trigger energy usage or
reflect on the energy consumption status of various appliances within the smart home. Some of the
parameters that may be dictated by a typical smart sensor are, motion for occupancy, light,
temperature, current and voltage. Apart for the purpose of energy management, some special types
of smart sensors can be incorporated into the SHEMS programs. These type of sensors such as the
smoke and life support sensors maybe used for security, health and safety reasons.
These smart sensors have the capability to dictate system and status conditions and send feedback
signals to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Energy Management Systems
18
(EMSs). Using the information received by the ICT and EMS systems, smart appliance energy usage
can then be controlled, monitored or even rescheduled to preferred times. Research has shown that
in North America an average home may require up to about 30 sensing devices for an effective SHEMS
[6].
2.5.1 Smart Appliances
Smart appliances that most researchers consider to be compatible with SHEMS are those intelligent
household appliances equipped with communication features that allow them to be remotely
controlled and monitored as part of home energy management systems. Some of the household
appliances that have been made smart over the years include washing machines, dishwashers and air
conditioning units. Information that is obtained from the smart appliances is conveyed via the
Information Communication Technologies (ICT) of the Energy Management Systems (EMSs) and is
made available to the home occupier. This enables the occupier to analyze and manage household
energy consumption. If more household appliances are developed to smart appliances, overall
residential demand may be efficiently reduced at a home occupier’s convenience. This will have a
positive impact on the global energy crisis [6].
In this project smart appliances will be modelled by plug‐in timer controlled socket outlets. These
socket outlets will be used as the monitored and remotely controlled outlets controlling fixed
appliances. The intelligent socket outlets available in markets may be equipped with power
measurement, control and communication devices.
2.6.0 Power and Energy Measurement
Power and energy measurements are particularly important aspects of SHEMS as they provide home
occupants the necessary data needed to determine the domestic appliance’s power demand, real time
energy consumption and to analyze the domestic appliance’s operating characteristics through the
use of the smart devices.
19
Figure 5 Below shows the smart home socket outlet Measuring Circuit layout.
Figure 5 Smart home electrical socket outlet measurement circuit layout [2]
The energy accumulated over time and the instantaneous power can be measured by a
microcontroller. A voltage divider in the circuit is used to provide low AC voltage to a measurement
low voltage chip. Once the current and voltage measurements are obtained, the energy and power
values are then sent to the communication unit. The smart socket outlet is also equipped with a relay
which gets commands from the home area network [2].
2.6.1 ICT (Information and Communication Technology) for smart homes
Sources point out that the incorporation of ICTs in the SHEMS enhances the automation, demand
forecasting and safer control of the home appliances. They argue that ICTs improves the quality and
energy efficiency of the SHEMS while maintaining user comfort [22].
In a smart home the ICTs connect the appliances, sensing devices and energy meters to the central
control monitoring equipment. Currently both wired and wireless ICT technologies are available to be
used in SHEMS. The domestic appliances are linked by a common home area network (HAN).The HAN
is then linked to a concentrator which is part of the neighborhood area network (NAN).The NAN is
linked to wide area networks (WAN).The data from the NAN concentrator is received by the WAN base
station which is responsible for transmitting the data to the network operator’s or control center over
20
the wired network or internet. The control center processes and stores the SHEMS data and make it
available for the optimization of power generation and distribution [23].The Wi‐Fi and ZigBee are
among the common technologies available to facilitate these home area networks [6].
Through the use of the Wireless personal network (WPAN), the ICT for smart homes transmits and
receives power and energy data from the Electrical socket outlet. The associated data is eventually
displayed on the user interface (UI).From the UI the information can be used for the investigation of
the energy characteristics of domestic appliances since the information contains real time energy
consumption and instantaneous power values [2]
2.6.2 User Interface (UI)
The User Interface designed for SHEMS provides the home occupier with a platform from which to
monitor and initiate commands as part of energy management. The features of the UI include a display
of energy usage data in user friendly graphical forms and control features that allow for the control
and operation of smart home appliances including local generation from renewable generators e.g.
solar PVs. Advanced UIs may be enhanced with load scheduling and demand forecasting tools with
extra options for third party control [6].
A typical SHEMMS UI is shown in Figure 6 below.From the display at the top section of the figure is a
display of energy consumption,cost and the quantity of CO2 emmitted.The graph on the hand is a
display of the usage pattern at specific time intervals [2].
21
Figure 6 Daily Load Profile data [2]
UIs such as the one shown in Figure 6 above give valuable energy usage data that can help users to
making decisions regarding the addition and redistribution of domestic loads as part of SHEMS. The
information provided can also influence the user to replace inefficient appliances [2].
2.6.3 Standards Associated with the Implementation of SHEMS
The SHEMS concept is dynamic and may continue to attract and involve more standards in its
implementation process. However, some of the standards that may be referred to for safety and
guidance in the design and implementation SHEMS include;
AS/NZS 5033:2014: Installation and safety requirements for photovoltaic (PV) arrays.
This is an Australian and New Zealand standard that addresses the safety, maintenance and
improvements of PV systems.
Clean Energy Council (CEC) Grid‐Connected Solar PV Systems Design Guidelines for Accredited
Installers.
22
This is an Australian standard that details the latest best practice concerning the design and
installation of grid‐connected PV systems.
AS/NZS 4777.1:2016 Grid connection of energy systems via inverters
This is an Australian and New Zealand standard that also specifies safety and installation
requirements for inverter energy systems designed for grid connection.
Building Code of Australia (BCA)
In Australia all building work must comply with the building code of Australia.
IEEE 1459
This is a standard prepared by the IEEE‐Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to
provide definitions associated with the measurement of power quantities.
AS/NZS 4417.2‐2012 Regulatory compliance mark for electrical and electronic equipment.
This is an Australian and New Zealand standard that also indicates particular regulations and
compliance conditions associated with electronic and electrical goods.
The Electricity Industry Metering Code 2012
In Western Australia (WA), The Electricity Industry Metering Code 2012 lays out the rules
associated with the provision of metering installations at all supply points, standing and
energy data [20]
3. Project Approach
In most cases electrical power and energy components that can be measured also present an
opportunity to be manipulated for control purposes. Electricity meters, Voltmeters and
ammeters are often used for electrical power and energy measurement [6].
23
The investigation and design of effective Smart Home Energy Management systems involves
the use of formulated algorithms for the measurement of power demand and real time
energy consumption of domestic appliances.
The proposed investigative approach for this project includes the use of electricity meters to
record power and energy measurements for households and some selected domestic
appliances.
The energy consumption measurements will be carried out by use of Landis and Gyr Model
EM1000 Single Phase Electricity Interval Meters which will be used to record load profiles for
the selected common household appliances. The electricity meters measure electricity
according to Australian standards AS 62052.11‐2005, AS 62053.21‐2005 and ISO9001,
ISO17025.These meters have the capability to measure and record import and export energy
data at 30‐minute intervals for 282 days [24].
The data collected from the electricity meters will be analysed and used to generate electricity
bills using the retail tariffs. The information gathered will be used to identify the most
appropriate control measures to reduce the total energy consumption of households in order
to reduce peak demand and energy costs.
The approach will also include the use of the Homer software application to investigate the
technical and financial implications of integrating roof top solar PVs to turn the house into an
energy neutral house. This software was developed by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in the US.
4.0.0 Methodology
4.0.1 Overview
24
This section details the methodology adopted by this project and also presents the graphical
data obtained during the investigation of house hold and appliance energy demand. The data
will be analysed for the investigation of the operating characteristics of some common
household appliances through the analysis of real time energy consumption.
Figure 7 below illustrates the wiring connections for a single phase main electricity tariff
meter located at most domestic switchboards in Western Australia. This type of wiring
configuration conforms to the Western Australian electrical Rules (WAER), AS/NZS 3000 and
the Western Australian Distribution Connections Manual 2015 [25].
Figure 7: Typical single Phase Electrical Meter Wiring Diagram [25]
The location of the Main meter in a domestic installation ensures that the total energy
consumption recorded is equal to the sum of all the energy consumed by the domestic loads
To Domestic Loads
25
associated with the particular house hold. In some cases, the total energy recorded may vary
depending on the configuration and type of electricity meter installed. This may be witnessed
where there is local RESs for example solar PVs. The type of meters used in this project record
import and export energy on separate channels within the meter and calculations will have
to be carried out separately for import export data calculations. The load profile data from
these meters can be downloaded to a personal computer via the optical port provided on the
meters.
The Figure 8 below illustrates a typical connection adopted for measuring the power
demand and real‐time energy consumption of the household loads. In this thesis project the
EM1000 single phase electricity meters were used to measure record the consumption for
the household loads. These meters are designed to operate at a phase voltage of 240V ad a
maximum current of 100A.
Figure 8: Appliance Energy Metering Arrangement
26
The electricity meters for investigating the Lighting and Air Conditioning circuits were installed
in the main electrical switchboard for the household. This location was chosen as these two
loads are often directly connected to the dedicated circuit breakers in the main switch board.
This location also guarantees that the entire consumption associated with the circuit is
measured including energy consumed by system control boards for example the air
conditioner’s control panel.
The approach followed in measuring demand for the selected loads was also dependant on
whether the chosen loads are completely switched off after use or some part associated with
the load remains functional after the appliance is used for its main purpose. For this reason,
the television set, microwave and air conditioning loads had electricity meters connected
inline at the appliances’ dedicated socket outlets. These dedicated meters remained in circuit
for longer periods to adequately investigate the consumption characteristics of the appliances
on standby.
4.0.2 Possible High Consumption Identification
In this project spikes or high demand instances will be identified on the appliances’ energy
consumption pattern in terms of kWh values. However, these values are dependent on the
need and role an appliance plays in the user’s lifestyle of choice. The initial values will mainly
reflect on the amount of energy consumed by the appliance during its operation and the
consumption can then be converted to monetary value.
Generally, there is an expected need on the household occupier or bill payer to reduce the
household energy bills. This need to reduce household energy bills is somehow expected to
reduce household energy demand via the bill payer’s need to reduce household energy costs.
27
Therefore, it is expected that a reflection on the high energy costs and the comparison of the
unit price of energy versus the high energy demand of some appliances will foster the need
for household bill payers and occupiers to develop a culture to reduce household energy
demand. This could possibly be achieved by shifting the use of high energy consuming
appliances to off peak periods and thus developing a culture to modify consumption trends
in a way that will reduce peak demand.
The reality of household energy consumption is such that the various domestic loads within
a household have different purposes and the appliances themselves have different technical
principles of operation and as such are also used at varying times from one household to
another. This means that the consumption patterns associated with households at any time
is very much dependent on the user’s preference and choice of appliances being used at any
instance. The home occupier has the freedom to use any appliance at any time from a range
of gadgets forming the big and small loads. The big loads those are those associated with
heating elements such as irons, electric kettles, electric hot plates and air‐conditioners. These
types of loads are considered to consume more energy due to the inclusion of heating
elements in their principle of operation. The small loads are those loads which consume less
energy including those loads whose principle of operation includes low energy LEDs such as
those used in some household lighting.
The following section presents and analyses the collected households’ load profile data with
the aim of identifying trends or patterns that can be utilised in developing control measures
that meet the project’s main objectives.
4.1.0 Typical Household Load profiles
28
The investigation of overall House hold load profiles is a necessary step in data analysis for the
development of a control measure to reduce energy consumption of the household in order to
reduce peak demand and energy costs. A graphical analysis of the overall household load profile will
assist in identifying reoccurring patterns and peaks for the investigation of the operating and
consumption characteristics of common household appliances.
In this thesis project 3‐month load profiles for 4 separate households in Perth were analysed. One of
the houses had electrical meters temporally installed at the connection points of some common
household appliances for the investigation of the operating characteristics of such appliances as
described in section 4.0.0
4.1.1 House 1 Load Profile
House 1 is located in the Perth suburb of Byford and usually has 2 occupants a couple who are also
working university students. The house has a 3kW Solar PV system installed and the import and
export energy data for 3 days stretching from Monday 27/08/2018 to Wednesday 29/08/2018 is
presented in the graph of Figure 9 below.
Figure 9 House 1 Load Profile (3 Different Days)
‐0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
House 1 Load Profile
27/08/18 Import 27/08/18 Export 28/08/18 Import
28/08/18 Export 29/08/18 Import 29/08/18 Export
29
A single day i.e. Monday 27/08/2018 was extracted from the graph of Figure 9 shown above and was
plotted in the graph on the left in Figure 10 below. The Air‐conditioner load profile which will be
explained in detail in section 4.2.1 was plotted on the same graph with the Monday 27/08/2018 load
profile and the plot is shown on the right in Figure 10 below.
Figure 10: House 1 and Air‐Conditioner Load Profile Comparison
The graph in Figure 10 above shows a plot of the Monday import (Blue), export (Brown) and Air‐
Conditioner (Grey) energy demand. It can be seen that from the early hours of the morning i.e. 0:00‐
05:30Hrs, there is no solar generation due to the absence of sunshine. During this period the
household’s import from the grid fluctuates within 0.21kWh. The occupants are asleep and the total
consumption during that time is mainly as a result of appliances on standby mode. After 06:30Hrs
the occupants wake up and a small spike in energy consumption is noticed in the graph as they
prepare for going away for the day. Immediately after the first spike around 08:00Hrs the house is
now unoccupied but Solar generation starts with the first ray of sunshine as the panels are now
receiving sunlight energy, import from the grid drops to zero as self‐consumption starts. The solar
PVs are now actually supplying the household’s low energy requirements up to a maximum of
30
0.54kWh at 11:00Hrs with excess energy generation exported to the grid. Around 14:00Hrs solar
generation drops due to less sunshine and the house begins to import from the grid once more.
Occupant activity begins between 14:00Hrs‐16:30Hrs. After 17:00Hrs solar generation has dropped
to zero once more as there’s no more sunshine. The house is fully importing again at around 16:00‐
19:30Hrs the 2.5kW air‐conditioner is turned on and energy import increases to a maximum of
3kWh.the A/C is turned off around 19:00Hrs at which point the house hold now imports a lower
energy value of around 0.32kWh until the occupants go to sleep. Around 22:00Hrs.
4.1.2 House 2 load Profile
House 2 is located in the Perth suburb of Queens Park and usually has 4 occupants. The House 2 Load
Profile in Figure 11 below shows a 4‐day period stretching from Friday 15/June/2018 to Monday
18/06/2018.
Figure 11: House 2 Load Profile
Friday (Blue): In the early hours of the morning after midnight to around 6AM, the trend fluctuates
below 0.13kWh, the consumption at this point consists of the Refrigerator and a few appliances on
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
House 2 :Load Profile (4 Occupants)
Friday 15/06/18 Saturday 16/06/18 Sunday 17/06/18 Monday 18/06/18
31
standby mode. This consumption pattern is noted for the early hours of the morning until the first
spike with a peak of around 0.7kWh between 6AM‐8:15AM. This is the time when the family wakes
up and the school run begins. After this period consumption drops down to follow the same trend
witnessed during the early morning hours. The graph also shows a rise from usual “occupants’ away
from home” trend and increases to a maximum of around 0.830kWh which is experienced within the
peak period and stays in that region until just before midnight when most of the appliances including
the Small air conditioner is switched off and the family retires to a late sleep.
Saturday and Sunday (Orange and Grey): The Saturday and Sunday plots show morning
consumption above weekday consumption as occupants are home, on Saturday consumption drops
around 07:30Hrs as occupants left home for weekend activities and came back home around
16:00Hrs at which point consumption gradually increases to a max of 0.5kWh at around 22:15Hrs.
On Sunday the occupants were home most of the day and increased consumption to a peak of
0.861kWh at 20:30Hrs.
4.1.3 House 3 Load Profile
House 3 is in the Perth Suburb of Secret Harbour. This is home to a working‐class couple and their
two teenage children. The load profile plot for House 3 is as shown in the graph Figure 12 below.
This data was downloaded from and import only meter.
Figure 12: House 3 Load Profile
0
1
2
3
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
House 3 Load Profile
Mon 27/08/2018 Tue 28/08/18 Wed 29/08/18
32
The House 3 plots also show low consumption during the early hours of the morning for each of the
three days. The first significant spikes start to appear between 06:30AM‐08:30AM as the family
wakes up and gets ready for the day. For the three days a second low spike is seen between
09:45AM‐12:30PM this could be a sign of human activity as one of the parents was home on sick
leave. Final significant spikes are noticed during the last quarter of the day and they begin at random
times and last for different lengths of time. These are suspected to be due to the air conditioner
being turned on at different starting times. The different starting times could have been influenced
by the atmospheric temperature dropping below the family’s comfort zone at different successive
time and staying cold for various time durations for the three days.
4.1.4 House 4 Load Profile
House 4 is situated in the Perth suburb of Bateman, the house is a home to an elderly retired couple.
The home has solar panels installed and Figure 13 below shows a 3‐day load profile stretching from
27/08/17 to 29/08/17. The data was downloaded from an import and export meter.
Figure 13: House 4 Load Profile (3 Separate Days)
‐0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
House 4 Load Profile (3 Seperate Days)
Import 27/08/17 Export 27/08/17 Import 28/08/17
Export 28/08/17 Import 29/08/17 Export 29/08/17
33
A 1‐day plot for Monday 28/08/17 is shown in Figure 14 below and the graph shows stretched periods
of morning and mid‐day consumption as occupants are almost always home. Solar generation in this
household usually starts later than in house 1 shown in Figure 9 above, this could be attributed to
geographical location.
Figure 14: House 4 Load Profile (1 Day)
The following section presents and analyses the load profile data for the selected household
appliances.
4.2.0 Typical Appliances’ Load Profiles
Household appliances may fall within the same category of appliances e.g. washing machines of the
same size however their energy efficiencies may be different. This thesis project refers to the Energy
Rating Label as a guide to selecting the most energy efficient household appliances.
The Energy Rating label system is an Australian government regulated appliance energy efficiency
rating system. The label system offers consumers the opportunity of comparing the energy efficiency
‐0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
House 4 Load Profile (1Day)
Import 28/08/17 Export 28/08/17
34
and running costs of appliances before purchasing in order to reduce household energy bills. Figure15
below show an example of an energy rating label.
Figure 15: Energy Rating Label [26]
The number of stars shown in the Figure 15 above reflects on the energy efficiency of an appliance,
the more stars a label has the more energy efficient it is. Also shown on the label is the energy
consumption in kWh/year. A higher energy consumption number means the appliance consumes
more energy than other appliances in the same category [26].
The appliances investigated in this project are associated with House 1 and they include the
Air Conditioner, television, refrigerator, Microwave, lighting, and the washing machine.
Section 4.0.0 of this document describes the approach adopted for appliances’ load profile
data collection.
35
4.2.1 Air Conditioner
The air‐conditioner was chosen as a common household appliance listed among the big loads
in a domestic installation. A 3‐day load profile for the Fujitsu Model AOT54LJBYL 4.7kW (Duct
Heating) air‐conditioner installed in house 1 is shown in Figure 16 below.
Figure 16: Air‐Conditioner Load Profile
The graph shows a constant low consumption of 0.009kWh which forms the standby mode of
the A/C unit. The A/C is turned ON between 16:00Hrs‐16:30Hrs and its consumption increases
to a maximum of around 2.6kWh. The A/C consumption is dependent on the selected
temperature setting i.e. as the set temperature increases the A/C consumption increases
accordingly.
The Table 1 below shows Time and kWh Values for the 27/08/18 between 14:00Hrs‐20:00Hrs.
‐0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
Air‐ Conditioner Load Profile
Mon 27/08/18 A/C Tue 28/08/18 A/C Wed 29/08/18 A/C
36
Table 1 Air‐Conditioner Standby Mode
Time 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00
kWh 0.009 0.009 0.008 0.009 0.009 1.521 2.453 2.517 2.551 2.598 2.438 0.009 0.009
In Table 1 above the standby mode is highlighted at a value of 0.009kWh.
4.2.2 Television
The Television was also chosen as a common household appliance for this project because it
is one of those electrical gadgets that is found in most modern Australian households. The
television’s operational hours are dependent on the energy user’s choice of lifestyle. While
some people may switch off their television sets from the wall socket, there are also some
that would leave the TV on standby mode as compared to totally switching off the gadget.
In this project a Samsung Model UA55KU6000W 55"(140cm) UHD LED LCD Smart TV with a
sound power rating of 20W was investigated. The TV load profile data was recorded over a 3
weeks period and analysed in order to come up with a TV usage control measure to reduce
costs and peak demand.
The graph in Figure 17 below shows the load profile downloaded from the electricity meter
that was connected the TV’s power socket. In this graph there are constant low consumption
periods of less than 0.002kWh and occasional spikes of irregular patterns appearing at
random times.
37
Figure 17: Television Load Profile
The periods of constant low consumption were analysed and confirmed to be those instances
when the TV is on standby mode.
Further investigations were carried by zooming in on the graph in Figure 17 above to
investigate 24‐hour day samples and the results were plotted in the graphs in Figure 18 shown
below.
Figure 18: Television (1 Day Load Profile)
‐0.01
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
TV Load Profile
TV 27/08/18 TV 28/08/18 TV 29/08/18
‐0.005
0
0.005
0.01
0.015
0.02
0.025
0.03
0.035
0.04
0.045
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
TV 27/08/18
38
The table in Table 2 below is a table of results extracted from the Figure 18 above, this table
shows the standby energy consumption of the TV at a constant value of 0.001kWh with
regular off periods that could be attributed to the TV’s energy saving algorithm.
Table 2: Television Standby Mode
Time 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30
kWh 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.028 0.036 0.034 0.042 0.04 0.036
The Monday 27/08/18 load profile shown in Table 2 above shows standby mode periods
stretching from 0:00Hrs to about 13:30Hrs. This significant portion has 27 segments of 30‐
minute intervals of constant standby mode consumption of 0. 001kWh.From the data
obtained so far, we can thus estimate the total energy consumed on standby mode for this
section of the graph as follows.
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑦 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒 27 𝑋 0.001 𝑘𝑊ℎ
27 x 0.001kWh = 0.03kWh
It therefore follows that if this particular TV was left on Standby mode for a full 24‐Hour day
with 48 segments of 30 minute intervals, it would consume a total of;
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑦 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 24ℎ𝑟𝑠 48 𝑋 0.001𝑘𝑊ℎ
48 X 0.001kWh = 0.05 kWh
4.2.3 Refrigerator
The refrigerator was also chosen as a common household appliance for this project since it is
one of those gadgets which is expected to be found in most Australian households. The
39
Refrigerator runs throughout the year with seasonal changes in temperature settings and an
occasional shut down for cleaning and hygiene purposes.
The refrigerator chosen for this project was the SHARP MODEL SJ‐339S‐SL Refrigerator‐
Freezer. The fridge load profile data for a 3‐day period starting from 27/08/2018 29/09/2018
is shown in Figure 19 below.
Figure 19 : Fridge Load Profile (3 Separate Days)
The graph in Figure 20 below shows a 1‐day (27/08/2018) fridge load profile.
Figure 20: Fridge Load Profile (1 Day)
‐0.01
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
FRIDGE Load Profile(3 Seperate Days)
FRIDGE 27/08/18 FRIDGE 28/08/18 FRIDGE 29/08/18
‐0.01
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
FRIDGE 27/08/18
40
As shown in the graphs of the Fridge load profiles above, the refrigerator has a random
consumption pattern within its maximum stipulated power rating. This is attributed to the
fact that refrigerator consumption is dependent on several factors that may include
surrounding temperatures and frequency of use. On hot days fridges are used more often and
thus consuming more energy in order to maintain the set temperatures.
4.2.4 Microwave
The microwave investigated in this project is a Sharp Microwave Oven Model R‐330J(S) with Inputs‐
230‐240V, 50Hz, 1.6kW, 7.2A. The microwave’s energy consumption also depends on the user’s
choice of lifestyle. A 3‐day load profile was recorded, and the results were plotted in the graph of
Figure 21 below.
Figure 21: Microwave Load Profile
As seen in the graphs of Figure 21 above, the microwave oven was not used regularly and only the 3
days of significant consumption were plotted in graph on the left in Figure 21 above with one of the
days (20/08/2018) plotted on the right in Figure 21 above. Table 3 below shows the actual energy
data values used to plot the right‐hand side graph of figure above.
41
Table 3: Microwave Standby mode
Time 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30
kWh 0.001 0.001 0 0.001 0.001 0.092 0.004 0.029 0.001 0 0.001 0.001
The table above shows standby mode values of 0.001kWh and a spike of 0.92kWh at 11:30AM, the
spike is experienced around 11:00AM and the spike peak in kWh is dependent on the user selected
oven operation mode.
4.2.5 Lighting
The lighting circuits for most domestic houses in Western Australia include ceiling exhaust and
extraction fans.
Lighting plays a crucial role in domestic installations and many energy efficient lighting technologies
have been developed for this category of domestic loads. The lighting load profile for 3days is shown
in Figure 22 below.
Figure 22: Lighting Load Profile (3 Separate Days)
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
Lighting Load Profile (3 Seperate Days)
28/08/2018 29/08/2018 30/08/2018
42
The graphs in figure above generally exhibit an initial morning spike after which the lighting load
drops to a constant low and then the loading picks up again during the late afternoon to maintain
higher values during night time. For detailed analysis a single plot of one of the lighting curves is
shown in Figure 23 below.
Figure 23: Lighting Load Profile (1 Day)
The graph in figure above shows constant standby periods of within 0.004kWh with an initial low
spike experienced at around 03:30AM. This first spike could be as a result of bathroom use at that
instant with the light and ceiling extraction fan turned on briefly. The second load pick up on this day
happens between 07:30‐09:30 this load rise is due to morning activities that may include a few
house lights including the main bedroom, toilet and bathroom lights with the extra load of toilet and
bathroom ceiling extraction fans. After the second load pickup, it appears the loading does not drop
down to the initial standby value, this could be as a result of forgetting to turn off some of the circuit
components for example an extraction fan or parts of the lighting circuit. A third spike is experienced
between 16:00‐18:00, this spike represents bathroom and toilet use after the occupants are back
from work. After this later load pick up, loading drops to standby values, this may also prove that the
circuit component that remained on for the better part of the day was realized and switched off
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
0.16
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
Lighting Load Profile (28/08/2018)
43
during this time. Loading picks up significantly at around 19:00 as the circuit provides light for night
time use.
The collected energy profile data has provided an insight into some household energy consumption
trends, behaviors and patterns. The following section presents some available energy retail tariffs
with the aim of selecting the most household energy cost reducing tariff.
4.2.6 Washing Machine
The washing machine is one of the shiftable loads in a household, it is used at random times that are
dependent on the user’s choice. The washing machine investigated in this project is a MIDEA AW 52‐
9906 automatic washing machine with an input power of 360W. Figure 24 shows the load profile
plot for the 24/10/18.
Figure 24: Washing Machine Load profile
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.09
0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24 19:12 0:00 4:48
kWh
Time of Day
Washing Machine 24/10/18
44
The graph in Figure 24 above shows the washing machine being used between 18:00hrs –20:00hrs
and reaching a maximum of 0.078kWh by 18:30hrs.The Table 4 below presents the kWh values
consumed by the washing machine for the duration of its operation on the given day.
Table 4: Washing Machine Standby Mode
Time 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00
kWh 0 0.001 0.078 0.025 0.051 0.001 0 0 0 0.001 0 0
According to Table 4 above the total energy consumed during the washing machine’s operation is
0.157kWh. After the washing machine is used it has a standby mode that continue to at 0kWh for an
hour and rise to 0.001kWh.
The energy consumption characteristics of the selected household appliances have been noted in
this section, the next section will then analyse the Western Australian available energy retail tariffs
with an aim of identifying opportunities to reduce household energy cost and peak demand.
5.0 Energy Retail Tariff Analysis
The electricity tariffs in this section were obtained from Synergy which is one of Western Australia’s
state owned major electricity retailer. The information and pricing stood correct by the 1st of July
2018. For the purposes of this investigation four domestic fitting tariffs were selected from the
available synergy list and are presented in Table 5 below.
45
Table 5 Synergy‐Retail Electricity Tariffs [27]
The Home Plan (A1) tariff was used as a base plan for this project and the unaltered house 1 load
profile data for the month of June 2018 was applied to all four tariff plans with the aim of identifying
possible opportunities for reducing household energy costs and peak demand. The total energy
consumed in house 1 during the month of June is 691.444kWh. The tariff plans and their individual
effects on the household bill were analyzed and the results obtained were as follows;
Tariff Electricity charge Energy Cost (cents/kWh) Supply Charge (cents /day)
Home Plan (A1) All Day 28.3272 101.5493
Peak ‐Weekdays: 3pm‐9pm 53.8714
Shoulder
Weekdays: 7am to 3pm 28.2139
Weekends: 7am to 9pm 28.2139
Smart Home Plan 101.5493
Off peak
Weekdays: 9pm to 7am 14.8405
Weekends: 9pm to 7am 14.8405
Peak
Weekdays: 11am to 5pm (summer)
Weekdays: 7am to 11am (winter) 57.1123
Weekdays: 5pm to 9pm (winter)
Weekday Shoulder
Smart Power (SM1) Weekdays: 11am to 5pm (winter) 101.5493
Weekdays: 7am to 11am (summer) 28.5124
Weekdays: 5pm to 9pm (summer
Weekend Shoulder 7am to 9pm 23.6277
Off peak Every day 9pm to 7am 14.8405
Peak
Weekdays: 7am to 2pm 26.7547
8pm to 10pm
Weekends: 7am to 10pm
Power Shift (PS1) Off peak 13.6558 101.5493
All days 10pm to 7am
Super peak 49.6161
Weekdays 2pm to 8pm
46
5.0.1 Home Plan (A1) Tariff
The A1 tariff is basically a flat rate tariff, this means that the consumer is offered the same
charge\kWh throughout the billing period. The A1 plan’s effect on the household bill is shown in
Table 6 below.
Table 6 : Home Plan (A1) Tariff
The project base tariff i.e. Home plan (A1) was found to be second cheapest plan with a total energy
cost of $248.96.
5.0.2 Power Shift (PS1) Tariff
The PS1 tariff is a time of use plan, however it is only a three‐part plan depending on the time of day
i.e. peak, off‐peak and super peak supply charges. The PS1 effect on the load profile is shown in
Table 7 below.
Table 7: Power Shift (PS1) Tariff
kWh Charge(cents) Cost(cents) Cost ($)
691.444 28.3272 19586.67248 195.86672
101.5493 3046.479 30.46479
226.33151
22.633151
248.96
Energy Cost
Flat Rate
Plus GST @ 10.00%
Total Charges
Home Plan (A1)
Supply Charge‐day
kWh Charge(cents) Cost(cents) Cost ($)
Weekdays: 7am to 2pm 141.101 26.7547 3775.114925 37.751149
85.572 26.7547 2289.453188 22.894532
Weekends: 7am to 10pm 101.2 26.7547 2707.57564 27.075756
All days 10pm to 7am 209.95 13.6558 2867.03521 28.670352
Weekdays 2pm to 8pm 153.621 49.6161 7622.074898 76.220749
691.444
101.5493 3046.479 30.46479
223.07733
22.307733
245.39Total Charges
Total Energy
Supply Charge‐day
Energy Cost
Power Shift (PS1)
Peak
Weekdays: 8pm to 10pm
Off peak
Super peak
Plus GST @ 10.00%
47
In this investigation it was found that the PS1 was the cheapest amongst the four options with total
energy costs of $245.39 and the cheapest off peak charge of $13.66.
5.0.3 Smart Home Plan Tariff
This is also a Time of use tariff that rewards consumers for using energy during off peak times by
charging a higher rate during peak hours and lower rates during off peak periods. The Smart Home
Plan’s effect on the household bill is shown in Table 8 below.
Table 8: Smart Home Plan Tariff
The Smart Home plan was the third cheapest plan with a total energy cost of $257.35.
5.0.4 Smart Power (SM1) Tariff
SM1 Tariff is also a Time of Use plan which offers the energy user four different rates depending on
the time of day and year i.e. peak, Weekday shoulder, Weekend shoulder and Off‐peak. The SM1
effect on the bill is shown in Table 9 below.
kWh Charge(cents) Cost(cents) Cost ($)
171.843 53.8714 9257.42299 92.57423
163.484 28.2139 4612.521228 46.125212
89.277 28.2139 2518.85235 25.188524
191.472 14.8405 2841.540216 28.415402
75.368 14.8405 1118.498804 11.184988
691.444
101.5493 3046.479 30.46479
233.95315
23.395315
Total Charges 257.35
Total Energy
Energy Cost
Plus GST @ 10.00%
Peak
Weekdays: 3pm to 9pm
Weekday Shoulder
Smart Home Plan
Supply Charge‐day
7am to 3pm
7am to 9pm
Weekdays: 9pm to 7am
Weekend Shoulder
Off peak
Weekends: 9pm to 7am
48
Table: 9 Smart Power (SM1) Tariff
The SM1 plan was found to be the most expensive plan amongst the four tariffs with a total energy
cost of $266.38. This plan was also found to have the most expensive peak period charge of
57.11cents.
5.0.5 Tariff Comparison
The plan that applied to house 1 during the month of June is the Home Plan (A1) Tariff. Table 10
below shows the tariff comparisons with percentage cost savings if the bill payer had considered
moving from the base plan to the other three tariff plans.
Table 10: Tariff Comparison
Table 10 above shows that for household energy cost reduction the Power Shift (PS1) would have
proven to be the cheaper plan cutting costs by 1.44%. This due to the fact that according to this plan
a considerable amount of energy amounting to 209.95kWh as shown in Table 10 above was
kWh Charge(cents) Cost(cents) Cost ($)
66.378 57.1123 3791.000249 37.910002
127.3 57.1123 7270.39579 72.703958
141.649 28.5124 4038.752948 40.387529
89.277 23.6277 2109.410173 21.094102
266.84 14.8405 3960.03902 39.60039
691.444
101.5493 3046.479 30.46479
242.16077
24.216077
266.38
Total Energy
Total Charges
Energy Cost
Plus GST @ 10.00%
Smart Power (SM1)
Peak
Weekdays: 5pm to 9pm (winter)
Weekdays: 11am to 5pm (winter)
7am to 9pm
Weekdays:7am to 11am (winter)
Weekday Shoulder
Weekend Shoulder
Off peak
Every day 9pm to 7am
Supply Charge‐day
Tarrif/Plan Bill Amount ($) Saving by Tariff Change (%) Comments
Power Shift (PS1) 245.39 Cheapest
Home Plan (A1) 248.96 Base Plan
Smart Home Plan 257.35
Smart Power (SM1) 266.38 Expensive
‐1.44
0.00
3.37
6.99
49
consumed during the cheapest off peak period at 13.66cents/kWh. The PS1 plan also has
considerably low peak charge of 26.76cents. The other two plans namely the Smart Home plan and
the Smart Power (SM1) were proven to have increased the household bill with the most expensive
being the SM1 plan which has a bill increase of 6.99%. The high bill from the SM1 plan is brought
about by the fact that this plan has the highest peak charge of 57.11cents, although the SM1 off
peak is lower at 14.84cents, the peak charge is too high such that it has considerable increases the
bill amount.
Tariff shopping has so far proven to have the potential of lowering house hold electricity bills. This
however calls for the energy shopper to first match their comfortable energy usage patterns with
the available electricity retail plans. If the matching does not result in considerable cost reduction
the energy user can further reduce the bill by choosing to use shift able loads to cheaper off peak
periods
The following analysis will endeavor to highlight the effects off load shifting and standby mode
elimination.
5.0.6 Load Shifting and Standby Mode Elimination Effect
Section 4.2.0 standby mode operation shows that although the standby mode consumption per 30min
interval for the TV and Air‐conditioner seems to be fairly low at 0.001kWh and 0.009kWh respectively.
It may however prove to be significant in the long run. In order to reduce household demand it would
be beneficiary to completely switch off such appliances by turning off the appliance from the wall
socket at those times when they are not in use.
The tariff analysis presented in section 5.0 of this document revealed a possibility of lowering
household energy costs by managing house hold consumption in a way that will avoid significant
energy consumption during the higher charged energy rate peak periods. This means that the bill
payer will have to enforce the moving of shift able load usage to the lower energy unit charge periods
50
especially the off peak periods. The tariff analysis also gave way to the idea of eliminating some
unnecessary loads which include appliance standby mode consumption.
This section will investigate the effects of load shifting and standby mode elimination on the electricity
costs. The washing machine which is considered as a shift able load in this project will have its total
consumption in kWh moved from the base charge period to an off peak period. This load shifting
process will be investigated in conjunction with standby load elimination.
The washing machine was used between 18:00hrs –20:00hrs on Wednesday 24/10/18. The usage
duration was a total of 2hrs.The standby mode energy values for the air‐conditioner, TV, microwave
will be recalled from section 4.2 and together with the consumption of the washing machine over the
2hr period will thus be effected on the energy retail plans. Initially all the four retail plans were
effected to the actual consumption and the Actual Consumption Values in cents are tabulated in Table
11 below which shows the effects of moving a shift able load to the off peak period with standby mode
consumption eliminated by completely switching off the appliance on a 2hr period specified above.
Table 11: Load Shifting and Standby Mode Elimination Savings
From Table 11 above it can be seen that moving a shift able load such as a washing machine to off‐
peak periods and eliminating standby mode consumption have the effect of reducing household
energy costs. The table shows savings of 21.89% on the home plan A1 tariff, 78.50% on the power
Shift PS1 tariff, 78.48% on the Smart Home Plan tariff and 79.70% on the smart Power SM1.
Load Type Stanby Mode (kWh) Total kWh in 2 hrs Smart Power‐SM1(C)
Actual Off‐peak Actual Off‐peak Actual Off‐peak Actual Off‐peak
Air‐Conditioner 0.009 0.036 1.0197792 0 1.7861796 0 1.9393704 0 2.0560428 0
Television 0.001 0.004 0.1133088 0 0.1984644 0 0.2154856 0 0.2284492 0
Microwave 0.001 0.004 0.1133088 0 0.1984644 0 0.2154856 0 0.2284492 0
Washing Machine 0.157 4.4473704 4.4473704 7.7897277 2.1439606 8.4578098 2.3299585 8.9666311 2.3299585
Total Costs 5.6937672 4.4473704 9.9728361 2.1439606 10.828151 2.3299585 11.479572 2.3299585
Saving ( C )
Saving (%) 79.7021.89
7.83 8.50 9.151.25
Home Plan‐A1 ( C )‐ Base plan Power Shift‐PS1 (C) Smart Home Plan (C)
78.50 78.48
51
The anticipated incentive for load shifting and standby mode elimination is household energy cost
reduction brought about by well‐designed electricity retail tariffs. The design of an effective
electricity tariff should therefore involve energy experts who will be in a position to design appealing
tariffs that will have the potential to attract energy users thereby reducing peak consumption.
The actual and physical action of direct appliance control and monitoring proves to be rather
cumbersome for the home occupier. This usually leads to inconsistences in appliance scheduling and
as a result often leads to insignificant household energy consumption, peak demand and costs
reduction.
The following section presents an intelligent market available energy monitoring and control system
that automatically controls and monitors household consumption.
6.0 Smart Energy Monitoring and Control
The challenge with the implementation of most household energy control and cost reduction
measures is their intrusion into the home occupier’s lifestyle choices. The solar energy resource
promises to be an alternative source of energy to reduce peak demand however, in a modern‐day
economy most people are at work during solar generation hours. This means that most of the
energy generated during the sunshine hours is often exported back into the grid at lower unit prices
while home occupiers continue to consume energy at higher rates during peak periods when most
people are at home.
In light of the current advances in smart energy monitoring technology this thesis project addresses
the need to schedule shift‐able appliance usage to solar generation/day time periods at the user’s
comfort and discretion by recommending the use of market available intelligent smart home energy
management accessories. One of the products identified in this thesis project is the market available
carbonTRACK intelligent energy management smart home accessories.
52
The carbonTRACK home energy management accessories offer home occupiers simple user friendly
interfaces in the form of smart phone and computer applications. This allows home occupiers to
remotely control and monitor home energy usage and respond to monitoring system alerts. The
combination of selected carbon track accessories offers home occupiers the opportunity to view and
analyse their energy usage load profiles in order to take immediate energy saving actions. For
domestic installations incorporated with solar PV generation, the selected combination of
accessories affords the energy user an opportunity to manage and control loading in a way that
increases solar PV self‐consumption. To top it up this system can be programmed and left to operate
on automatic control using the energy user’s programmed schedule of choice.
6.0.1 System Components
This section presents the selected components for a suggested intelligent monitoring and control
measure to reduce the energy consumption of the house hold in order to reduce peak demand and
energy costs. Figure 25 below shows a general arrangement of a typical smart energy measurement,
monitoring and control system for households.
Figure 25: carbonTrack Smart Home Energy Management System Components [28]
53
The selected combination of accessories include the CTX1 Smart Hub, CTEye meter, Smart plug and
the climate command. The system components are linked via wireless communication technologies.
6.0.2 CTX1 Smart Hub
The CTX1 intelligent Smart Hub is shown in Figure 26 below. The information hub connects the
selected accessories and allows for the real time device control. The CT1 smart hub specification
sheet is provided in Appendix Part B of this document.
Figure 26: CTX1 Smart Hub [28]
The CTX1 Hub is the effective central information exchange centre, it facilitates information exchange
from several connected devices including smart plugs, climate commands, mobile phones and home
computers. The type of information that can be exchanged includes the load profiles, system alerts
and various commands. The hub’s high communication encryption ensures a high level of information
security and hence gives the user some sense of security and peace of mind. The CTX1 has fast
54
operating speeds and can communicate with various protocols which include the Wi‐Fi, 3G, 4G,
ZigBee, smart meters and Ethernet. The hub has simple installation instructions meaning that the user
would not necessarily require specialised services including those of a qualified electrician as there is
no hard electrical wiring involved. The hub is also enhanced with a backup battery for use in cases of
system outages [28].
6.0.3 The Smart Plug
The Carbon Track smart plug is shown in Figure 27 below, the plug is essentially a socket outlet that
can be plugged into a general purpose house hold power socket outlet as shown in the right in in
Figure 27 below. The smart plug specification sheet is provided in Appendix Part C of this document.
Figure 27: The carbonTrack Smart Plug [28]
The smart plug is compliant with ZigBee HA1.2 thereby enhancing wireless capabilities via the main
hub, this type of connection facilitates the control i.e. remote switching of connected house hold
55
appliances through the use of personal computers and smart phones. The energy user may monitor
power, energy usage in 15mininutes intervals and wilfully shift appliance usage schedules to off peak
periods in order to reduce costs and peak demand. The smart plug suitable for most domestic
purposes operates at a range of 110V‐240 VAC with a maximum current rating of 10Amps with
switching available in manual as well as in 5 timer switching configurations [28].
6.0.4 Climate Command
Air conditioning units are listed as one of the big loads within a domestic setting and as such the
control and monitoring of an air conditioner’s energy usage is necessary in order to reduce peak
demand and household energy costs.
The climate command shown in Figure 28 below is an easy to install gadget that can be installed for
the purposes of adjusting household temperature. Equipped with wireless capabilities, the climate
command can be positioned in a convenient location as shown on the right hand side picture in
Figure 28 below. The climate command broacher is provided in Appendix Part D of this document.
Figure 28: The carbonTrack Climate Command [28]
56
The climate command has a 180 degrees coverage with a range of about 30metres and can be
controlled via smart devices in order to adjust the household’s indoor temperature. The climate
command makes it possible to maintain a selected temperature setting within a range of 0‐70°C and
to shift energy usage of house hold appliances such as the air‐conditioning unit. The energy user can
use this device to shift air –conditioning loads to off peak periods thereby pre heating the household
at lower off‐peak rates and using less peak period energy to maintain indoor temperature [28].
6.0.5 CTEye
The carbon Track CTEye is a meter that can be used for a wide range of control and mearing
applications. The CTEye is shown in Figure 29 below, this device can be used in conjunction with a
wide range of control and censoring instruments which include the climate control and the smart
plug via the Smart Hubs. The CTEye specification sheet is provided in Appendix Part E of this
document.
Figure 29: The carbonTrack CTEye Electricity Meter [28]
57
The CTEye installation requires the services of a licensed electrician as it involves hard electrical
wiring. This meter can be installed inside electrical switch boards as it can easily be mounted on a
din‐rail alongside common household circuit protection devices. The meter has a microprocessor for
data storage and is enhanced with ZigBee communication capabilities [28].
The CTEye also interfaces with the CTX1 Hub, dashboard and App, this allows users to easily view the
collected data, and then control the connected circuits accordingly.
The project went on to investigate other ways of reducing peak demand and overall fossil fuel
consumption. The following section investigates the effects of incorporating solar PVs for achieving
an energy neutral home.
7.0 Incorporation of Solar PVs and Neutral Home analysis
Although large penetration of intermittent solar PV energy into grid is limited by the grid stability
while incorporating solar PVs into a domestic installation is accompanied by high initial costs.
Incorporating renewable local generation such as solar PVs in a residential setting has the potential
of meeting part or all of a house hold’s electrical energy needs through self‐consumption. Meeting a
household’s energy requirements at a given time also depends on the solar resource availability,
storage size and the loading at that particular time. Self‐consumption refers to the idea of
consuming or utilizing most of the energy produced by the solar system at the moment it is
produced for installations with no storage.
The Homer Pro micro grid analysis tool was used to investigate the possibility of turning a Perth
household into an energy Neutral home by attempting to match its possible loading with the most
viable solar generation system.
In this thesis project the writer acknowledges that there exists a technically possibility of
incorporating local renewable energy generation to achieve a Net‐Zero/Energy neutral home in
58
Perth, Australia. However, there are some physical and regulatory limitations that have to be
considered in the design of such a home and they are listed below as follows;
7.0.1 Technical and physical limitations
Western Power Regulations: Specify the requirements of inverter sizes that may be
approved without the need of a technical review and suggests inverter capacity of less than
or equal to 5kVA for a single phase installation [29].
Available roof space: The available roof space of an ordinary domestic home limits the
number of roof top solar panels that can be installed. According to technical experts a 6kW
solar panel system may consist of about 19‐24 solar panels [30]. An equivalent panel output
of 24 panels was used in this investigation.
Energy Unit price: The homer model for this thesis project uses a current grid energy unit
price of $ 0.283/kWh (Flat tariff on the Synergy Home Plan (A1) tariff) and factors it in its
calculations of the most economically viable simulation.
The above mentioned limitations were considered in this investigation and homer simulations were
performed to select an optimized configuration of grid and PV incorporated with storage. The
simulation model components are as shown in Figure 30 below.
Figure 30: Homer Model Configuration
59
The configuration components are detailed as follows;
The Load (House 1)
The available house 1 load profile is for a period of about four months from 26/04/18‐14/09/18.
Hourly averages for the 3 months were calculated and used in homer for a full year load assumption.
As shown in the model configuration in Figure 30 above an average daily load of 22.49kWh/day and
a peak of 3.23kW were calculated by the homer tool.
The Grid
The Western Power network forms the grid and has an energy unit price of $ 0.283 (Synergy Home
Plan (A1)) tariff with a grid sale back price of $ 0.071.
PVs
Although western Power stipulates an inverter size of 5kW as a limiting measure, a 6kW solar panel
combination was chosen for this project so as to increase energy production during shaded, morning
and winter times when the solar resource is limited. An equivalent of 24 x Sharp ND‐250QCS (250W)
Solar Panels was used for this model.
Inverter
A SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC CONEXT XW+ 5548 INVERTER/CHARGER was selected from the Homer list of
inverters and considered for this model.
Battery/Storage
GCL E‐KwBe NC/S 5.77kWh capacity Lithium ion household batteries were selected from the homer
tool list of Batteries and considered for this model.
The above component sizes and combinations were varied and simulation results analyzed in a
process of selecting the best combination parameters.
60
7.0.2 Homer Simulation Approach
The first step was to analyze a load and grid only configuration and the results are shown partly in
Figure 31 and Figure 36 below. The homer tool performs economic calculations considering a list of
terms some of which are defined below;
Cost of Energy (COE): is defined according to the following formula;
[31]
Where;
Cann, tot: Total Cost ($/year)
Eprim.AC: Primary AC load served (kWh/Year)
Eprim.DC: Primary DC load served (kWh/Year)
Egrid, sales: Total grid Sales (kWh/Year)
As shown in the homer formula, COE is the total annual electricity production cost divided by the
sum of overall useful energy produced.
Net present Cost (NPC): present system installing Costs and system life time operating costs
calculated as follows;
[31]
61
Where;
Cann, tot: Total Cost ($/year)
CRF: capital recovery factor
i : real interest rate (%)
R pro j: project lifetime (year)
At first the investigation approach for this part of the project included using the homer analysis tool
to come up with the most economic configuration by choosing from a wide range of Inverter, PV array
and battery sizes. This was followed by investigating the effects of increasing the inverter size,
selecting a 5kW inverter, increase in battery numbers and finally the effects of increasing the PV array
size /number rooftop solar panels.
Figure 31 below shows the homer’s top 4 most economic models. The grid only configuration shows
the grid with no initial costs and a NPC 0f $30 066.The highest renewable fraction of 91.1% is achieved
by a configuration with a 6kW PV array, 3 Batteries and a 2kW inverter.
Figure 31: The Homer most economic models
Figure 32 below shows the results obtained from eliminating all inverter sizes below 5kW, and letting
Homer to calculate the top most economic models. This resulted in homer selecting 5kW inverters
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with a small increase in renewable penetration from 91.1% to 92.5% with 3 batteries and a 6kW array
as in the previous configuration.
Figure 32: Effects of Increasing the Inverter Size
Figure 33 below shows the effects of setting the inverter size to 5kW with a slight storage increase
from the previous Homer selection from 3‐5 batteries. The increase in storage resulted in an increase
in renewable penetration from the previous 92.5%‐96%. This project considers the 96% renewable
penetration to be the most reasonable extent of achieving an energy neutral home within the current
technical and regulatory restrictions.
Figure 33: Effects of setting the inverter to 5kW
The investigation went on to vary parameters to achieve 100% renewable penetration without
economic considerations. Figure 34 below shows a 100% renewable penetration from a configuration
with 60batteries.This Neutral home configuration was achieved at an initial cost of $67,725 and a NPC
of $136,498.
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Figure 34: Effects of increasing the number batteries
The number of batteries was then set back to 5 and the PV array size increased until 100% renewable
fraction was achieved with a 22kW solar array as shown in Figure 35 below at an initial cost of $32,525
and a NPC of $49,270.
Figure 35: Effects of increasing the PV array size/number of solar panels
Figure 36 below shows an all green bar chart representing 100% grid purchases covering all the house
1 load requirements.
Figure 36: Grid Only Supply Chart
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Figure 37 below shows a breakdown of the quantities of gaseous emissions produced by a grid on
system.
Figure 37:Grid only gaseous emissions
As seen in Figure 37 Above the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from a grid only system amounts
to about 5,189kg/yr.
PVs were then added to the configuration to analyze the energy portion which will have to be
shaved from a Grid and PV only system while considering the technical and physical limitations
mentioned earlier in this chapter. Figure 37 below show the house 1 simulation results with the
yearly load supplied from a typical grid and PV only system.
Figure 38: Grid and PV Supply Chart
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The graph in Figure 37 above, shows the PV generated power in orange while the grid purchased
power is shown in green. Within the present limitations it can be seen that a grid and PV only system
might have the potential to supply about 67.4% of Household 1 yearly energy requirements from
local generation, while the remaining 32.6% is imported from the grid.
A Series of simulations were performed with the aim of developing the PV solar system to a level
that would further accommodate the remaining grid purchased energy of about 5.186 kWh/year,
achieving this result will mean that 100% of the house’s energy requirements are supplied by the
local renewable generator. Achieving 100% local energy supply also makes the home ‘energy
neutral’, which forms part of this project’s investigation objectives.
Considering the limitations mentioned at the beginning of this section, the preferred configuration
involved the addition of storage/batteries as shown in Figure 37 above.
The grid, battery and PV configuration produced the results shown in Figure 38 below.
Figure 39: Grid, PV and Storage Supply Chart
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The addition of the storage component produced the results shown in Figure 38 above which shows
a 96.2% of the house hold’s energy requirements being supplied by the PVs and battery storage. This
chart shows that the developed energy system configuration is only 3.76% short of achieving
independence from the grid. The grid dependency is shown in green in the bar graph and it occurs
within the months surrounding the Western Australian winter period of June, July and August [32].
The 3.76 % shortfall can be attributed to the fact that W.A winter months may be cloudy and the
solar resource during this period is low as the sunshine window is narrower with the sunrise
experienced later and sunsets earlier than in any other months of the year. The winter conditions do
not support maximum energy output from PVs and a detailed sequence of events is given as an
interpretation of the curves in the Figure 39 below.
Figure 39 is a plot of the grid connected configuration components responses to the load of 8 June
2018.
Figure 40: Grid connected configuration components responses to the load of 8/06/2018
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The PV power output curve shown in black in Figure 39 above shows generation beginning in the
morning around 06:00, PV generation continues to pick up with the rising sun until it reaches a
maximum of about 3.98kW around 10:00. After peak generation, the curve continues to drop in
steps until zero PV output at 5:00PM for the rest of the night. The house load curve (blue) fluctuates
and reaches its peak at night around 21:00. The inverter output curve (green) starts the day at zero
output until it peaks up at the same time as the PV power output curve at 6:00 in the morning. The
output curve continues to rise until it catches up with the load curve from which point the two
curves progress in phase with the same values. It would have been expected that the inverter output
decreases as the sunsets for a solar PV and greed only system, however the opposite is witnessed in
this system which has added battery storage. As the PV output falls towards sunset or low solar
resource periods, the inverter output continues to follow the load curve with the battery discharge
power curve (red) as the driving force. The battery discharge curve remains zero until it peaks up
when PV output is low, towards the evening, during the battery discharge constant zero portion, the
battery charge curve (yellow) the chance to rise as it charges during the sunshine period between
06:00‐16:00.
The 3.76% grid dependency of the system can be explained from the period between 0:00‐06:00
shown in the graph of figure above. As seen in the graph the inverter output and battery discharge
curves decreased before midnight until they got to zero at 0:00. During this period which occurs in
the absence of sunshine the battery has completely discharged with no possibility of charging for
this PV only charging system. This means there would be no battery discharge as well as no PV
output, hence the grid is then recalled to supply the present load thereby forming the 3.76% grid
purchases.
Table 12 is a comparison of the economics of grid only and the investigated grid, PV and storage
system.
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Figure 41: Grid and PV system Comparison
There exists a technical possibility of achieving an energy neutral home in W.A, however it requires
extensive economical consideration as further decreases in the 3.76% energy deficit is accompanied
by extra costs and regulatory restrictions.
The total elimination of grid dependency may be achieved by a combination of modifications on the
investigated configuration, these changes may include increasing the storage size, the number of PV
panels and the inverter output although this may call for technical reviews from western power.
From the information gathered in this thesis project, recommendations regarding home energy cost
and peak demand reduction were made and are presented in the following section.
Figure 42 below shows the homer calculated amount of gaseous emissions for the grid, PV and
storage configuration.
Figure 42:Grid,PV and storage gaseous emissions
As seen in Figure 42 the configuration releases about ‐1,205kg/yr as compared to the 5,189kg/yr
produced by the grid only system.
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8.0.0 Recommendations
The house‐hold peak demand and energy cost reduction measures proposed in this project
take into consideration the home occupier’s freedom of choice in the selection of household
appliances and their energy consumption patterns. This thesis project therefore recommends
the effective use of the following concepts in order to reduce household peak demand and
energy costs;
Reference to Energy rating labels
Tariff shopping
Switching Off devices at the wall
Shift able load scheduling
Use of Smart home energy management intelligent systems
Installation of local renewable energy sources e.g. solar PVs
The smart measurement of power demand and real time energy consumption has the
potential to influence a reduction household energy consumption thereby reducing
household peak demand and energy costs.
9.0.0 Conclusion
There is a dire need to reduce global energy demand in order to reduce the negative
environmental impacts of electrical energy production. The residential sector has been
identified as a significant energy consumer in many countries and has attracted more
attention from energy conservation programs. Smart home energy management systems
help to reduce peak demand without heavily intruding on the home occupier’s life style
70
choices. The anticipated incentive for load shifting and standby mode elimination is
household energy cost reduction brought about by well‐designed electricity retail tariffs. The
design of an effective electricity tariffs should therefore involve energy conservation experts
who will design appealing tariffs that will have the potential to attract energy users thereby
reducing peak consumption. There exists a technical possibility of achieving an energy neutral
home in WA, however it requires extensive economical consideration as further decreases in
grid dependency are accompanied by extra costs and regulatory restrictions. In general
household energy consumers are concerned with household energy cost reduction while the
responsibility of the overall fossil fuel demand reduction currently lies in the hands those
community members who are emotionally attached to environmental conservation.
Community leaders are therefore faced with the task of teaching the communities about the
environmental risks of fossil fuel dependency.
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Appendix
Part A: EM1000 METER
The EM1000 is a single‐phase electricity tariff meter located at most domestic switchboards in
Western Australia. This type of wiring configuration conforms to the Western Australian Electrical
Rules (WAER), AS/NZS 3000 and the Western Australian Distribution Connections Manual 2015 [25].
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Part B: CTX1 Smart Hub Specifications
The CTX1 intelligent Smart Hub is the information hub that connects the selected accessories and
allows for the real time device control.
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Part C: CarbonTrack Smart Plug – Specification Sheet
The smart plug is compliant with ZigBee HA1.2 thereby enhancing wireless capabilities via the main
hub, this type of connection facilitates the control i.e. remote switching of connected household
appliances with personal computers and smart phones.
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Part D: CarbonTrack Climate command – Product Broacher
The climate command is an easy to install gadget for adjusting household temperature. Equipped
with wireless capabilities, the climate command is positioned in a convenient location and can be
controlled via smart devices.
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Part E: CTeye Specification Sheet
The carbon Track CTEye is a meter that is used for a wide range of control and measuring
applications.