GSM Based Smart Home Energy Management System with Hybrid Energy

Abstract

Energy management is one of the perennial problems in the world. In many places around the world; 100% of the energy production comes from non-renewable sources which pollute the environment around us. In addition, the usage of non-renewable sources such as natural gas is quite expensive. In which, one day this source will expire and will no longer exist in this world. This project outlines the importance of establishing a “Smart Home Energy Management (SHEM) system in Qatar” that is used to manage the use of alternative renewable sources of energy in supplying energy for household use. In this project, a SHEM system was developed based on data collected from a case study villa in Qatar. Alternative energy sources in the case study villa included solar PV, wind energy, battery bank and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). An algorithm for selecting the optimal mix of energy sources was developed. The optimal energy mix was selected based on the least energy cost option. A prototype of the SHEM system was developed, using the Arduino board, to test the functionality of the proposed SHEM system. Experiments with the prototype showed that the SHEM system is able to select the least cost energy source at different times. The SHEM system was also able to send a message to the user’s smartphone to give updates about the system status through GSM modem. This feature allows the user to interact with the SHEM system. The data and information availed to the user allows the user to monitor and manage energy consumption parameters at household level. Numerical simulation of the SHEM system showed that the electricity bill at household level can be reduced by 4.4%. It was observed that implementation of the proposed SHEM can result in annual household savings of in the order of 909 QAR. Implementing the SHEM system to all houses in Qatar will result in savings to the order of 183,062,799 QAR. In addition, significant environmental benefits can be accrued by implementing the proposed SHEM systems in all houses in Qatar. Therefore, the proposed SHEM system can provide energy savings in homes.