Research on Smart Home Energy Management

System

Martin Liska, Marian Ivanic, Vladimir Volcko, Peter Janiga

Insitute of Power and Applied Electrical Engineering
Slovak university of technology in Bratislava
Bratislava, Slovakia
martin.liska@stuba.sk, marian.ivanic@stuba.sk, vladimir.volcko@stuba.sk, peter.janiga@stuba.sk

Abstract— Europe is committed to the 20-20-20 targets to classical centralistic and top down energy production chain
reduce carbon emissions and to secure energy supply. Energy generation, transmission, distribution and consumption to a
efficiency and renewable energy are seen as key to reach these more decentralized system, in which the participants change
goals. Both measures all for changes in our energy supply system their roles dynamically and interact cooperative. The
leading to smart grids for the required innovation. The development of the concepts and architectures for a European
fundamental architecture of networks build in years ago has been Smart Grid is not a simple task, because there are various
developed in most member states to meet the needs of large, concepts and architectures, representing individual
predominantly carbon-based generation technologies. But now stakeholders‘viewpoints. The electrical power grid in the
the networks will have to integrate decentralized and renewable
European Union is based on a big number of heterogeneous
power generation, also with many small suppliers. More flexible
transport of power is needed in response to new energy markets
participants that are next to each other connected. Every
and energy trading, and to the trend towards location of bulk participant of the electrical power grid builds and operates its
generation far from load. The European Commission has taken a part of the network in its own manner and at the same time
number of actions including a mandate on standardization for they have to work together. The conceptual model has to deal
smart grids issued in 2011. The final customer with small source with different levels of decentralization (Fig 1) [1].
has a potential to participate on smart grid features and thus
should be involved and motivated throughout several motivation
stimulus. One of the key features in the smart grid applications is
the demand side service offered to designated parties by smart
home automation systems. This paper describes the base of home
automation systems upon the smart grid reference architecture.
The paper also describes the fundamentals on research of Smart
Home Energy Management System and demonstrates the idea of
its utilization for demand side management on simulation
experiment of low voltage grid with distributed sources.

Keywords— demand side management; final customer; smart

metering; smart grids; home automation; reference architecture;
distributed generation

I. INTRODUCTION
The electrical energy system is currently undergoing a
paradigm change, that has been affected by a change from the
Fig. 1. Decentralization levels

With the beginning of the 21st century, more and more

decentralized energy systems are coming into the network
again, so future architectures will have to support both
This contribution/publication is the result of the project International centralized and decentralized concepts. Consequently
center of excellence for research on intelligent and secure information
and communications technologies and systems, ITMS 26240120039
requirements for distributed and centralized concepts and
supported by the Research & Development Operational Programme applications need to be considered.
funded by the ERDF.
This paper is supported by the agency VEGA MŠVVaŠ SR under
Grant No. VEGA 1/1100/12, Smart grid as part of power distribution
networks - new measurement methods and consumption control methods.

978-1-4673-6788-2/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

A. Smart meters and home automation sustems in the concept
of smart grids
Smart meters are the key enabler for smart grids providing
for two-way information flows between the meter and the
designated market organizations. Smart metering systems may
exist in the context of larger smart grid infrastructures and
may co-exist with home automation systems [2]. Smart meters
in the context of demand response actions and smart home
automation system can be utilized as a gateway between home
network and the WAN. This is illustrated in the following Fig
2.
Fig. 2. Home automation in the context of of smart metering and smart grids
Smart metering systems comprise all functions, entities
and interfaces from the utility smart metering applications to
smart metering end devices and/or home automation devices
used in a smart metering context. As in [3] data and
functionalities at the interface between the Smart Grids and
the Home Area Network from the Smart Grids' perspective, to
implement services such improving market functioning and
customer service and service to enable and encourage stronger
and more direct involvement of consumers in their energy
usage and management and functionalities associated, smart
grids system must have access at the interface between
network and home/building for the following services:
• secure remote reading of metrological register(s) for all
information needed for network management, quality
of supply management,
• secure two-way communication between the metering
system and designated market organizations,
• to support advanced tariffing and payment systems,
• to allow remote regulated disablement and enablement
of supply and flow/power limitation both to the user
and the utility, taking into account all appropriate
measures to protect final customers,
• secure communication with designated parties to offer
energy efficiency, automation and demand side
management services,
• to provide information via gateway to an in-
home/building automation system and to a web portal
or display or similar auxiliary equipment.
Of particular concern to all participants including the
customer is the potential for the smart meter to be the gateway
by which the electricity supply can be controlled remotely –
either the entire supply (through remote disablement or
load/small scale generation limitation) or individual
appliances (e.g. through signals sent to chips in the equipment
to effect load limitation or time-shifting). There is likely to be
considerable industry debate about how this area of
functionality is to be provided and this will have implications
for the commercial, technological, industry and regulatory
structures within which such services will be made available
[3].
II. SIMULATION OF DEMAND RESPONSE ACTION ON LOW
VOLATGE GRID MODEL
Demand response is the key reliability resource to the
power system. It helps reduce the electricity consumption or
smooth the load in peak demand in response to emergency,
peak-load, and high- price conditions. Utilities and
policymakers at all levels of government have long recognized
the benefits of demand response. Demand response refers to
all functions and processes applied to influence the behaviour
of energy consumption. In order to facilitate demand response,
feedback and visualization of energy consumption are
necessary and as such, fast real-time and high availability
network communication is the critical component enabler. The
communication aspect can range from simple signalling, e-
mail, SMS, or a phone call to a person who manually switches
a load on or off, to fully integrated load management, where
many consumption devices are dynamically controlled
according to profiles based on the availability or price of
energy (tariffs). The importance of the demand side action
within the smart grid features is demonstrated on a simple
model of low voltage network shown on Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Low voltage grid model
 The 3-phase model consists of 35 nodes. Some of the these zones are formed according to the impact rate of PV
nodes have been modelled with as load nodes (houses). The station on voltages (Fig. 5).
loads are in range from 0.3kW to 0.6kW. All loads are listed
in the following Tab.1.

TABLE I. LIST OF LOADS

Pload Pload Pload
Node Node Node
[kW] [kW] [kW]
1 0.3 27 0.4 36 0.5
12 0.4 28 0.5 37 0.6
13 0.5 29 0.6 38 0.3
14 0.6 30 0.3 40 0.4
18 0.3 31 0.4 41 0.5
20 0.4 32 0.5 42 0.6
22 0.5 33 0.6 44 0.3
24 0.6 34 0.3
25 0.3 35 0.4

Connecting PV stations to low grids can causes voltage. In

this simulation we show the impact of PV stations on node
voltages. The PV stations are connected in different positions
at the end of the feeder. All the PV stations are the same
power of 2.8kW. In the first step, the steady state is calculated
without the PV stations to find the voltage in all nodes (U0).
Then we connect PV stations sequentially to selected nodes,
first to node 41 then 11, 38, 40, 34 and the last to node 37.
After each time we connect a PV station we check voltages
U1, U2, U3, U4, U5, U6 in all nodes given from steady state
calculation. The next Fig. 4 shows, how the voltage increased Fig. 5. Principle zonation of low voltage grid for demand response action
in all nodes when connecting the PV stations gradually one by
one. The demand response action can be based on these zones,
so the grid operator could address the demands to control the
power consumption or production directly throughout
Customer Energy Management System or Demand response
management system (CEMS/DRMS). The signals for demand
control can be directed to only those zones, which are
influenced by PV stations. This grid zonation will improve the
optimization of demand control management. The next Fig. 6
depicts the simulation results with successful demand response
action.

Fig. 4. Voltage changes

The voltage changes across the nodes imply that the PV

stations affect mainly the voltage near to the PV connection
point. At the beginning of the feeder, the voltage has no
changed. This is due to the difference between short circuit
power at the beginning of the feeder and also due to the
distances. In accordance to the differences of voltage changes
caused by the PV station operation, the grid can be divided to
several zones, representing the voltage change. In other words,
Fig. 6. Voltages after succesfull demand side action
 The voltage marked as U7 is the voltage in all nodes after
the demand response action. In this demand side control
action, the consumption power was increased only in the
nodes located in the effected zones. The voltages after the
demand side action decreased to the acceptable values. This
simulation demonstrates the idea of grid zonation for
improvement the demand control using the customer’s smart
home automation system.
A. Smart metering systems and smart meters as gateway to
customer appliances
As mentioned in [2], the smart metering system may be
used for important functionality, which enables
communication of AMI components (Advanced Metering
Infrastructure) with devices or gateways within the
home/building used in the provision of energy efficiency and
demand-side management services. AMI is one such initiative
in which smart meters measure interval data (e.g. half hourly
demand) and make this available to consumers and the utility
online for appropriate action. Moreover, AMI offers more than
just measurement of energy used. It works as a dedicated
gateway to the customer’s home, enabling additional energy
related services. It can be used both for demand response
(stimulate the customer to change his energy behaviour) and
demand side management (direct control of household
appliances such as geysers, washing machines or air
conditioners) [4]. The functional reference architecture for
communications in smart metering systems has been prepared
under the Mandate M/441 (Standardization mandate in the
field of measuring Instruments for the development of an open
architecture for utility maters involving communication
protocols enabling interoperability) by CEN/CENELEC/ETSI
Smart Meters Coordination Group and issued in December
2011. This Technical Report identifies functional reference
architecture for communications relevant for smart metering
systems. (Fig 7)
MID requirements
Additional In-home
Metrology Display
functions display
I
Meter communication
functions
H1
The Local Network Access Point (LNAP) is a functional
entity that allows access to one or more metering end devices
and to advanced home automation end devices. The LNAP
may act simply as a router transferring messages between the
metering end devices and advanced home automation devices
and the Neighbourhood Network Access Point (NNAP) and/or
the Wide Area Network (WAN). Alternatively it may provide
a range of services including protocol conversion, device
management, security and service capabilities. WAN interface
to AMI subsystem & Head-End is used to connect the meter, a
LNAP, or a NNAP to a central data collection system. Typical
interface platforms for these interfaces are PSTN networks,
public G2 (GPRS) and G3 (UMTS) networks, DSL or
broadband TV communication lines, power line
communications (PLC), either in narrowband or broadband
[5]. PLC (Power Line Communication) is a technology that
allows information transmission using electrical wires [6].
Advanced home automation devices are used to provide
the accurate information on consumption in order to increase
consumer awareness and additional functionalities enabling
consumers to interact with their own environment .Advanced
home automation end devices utilize the interface H2 to
connect to the LNAP and/or the H3 interface to connect to the
NNAP.
According to the effort to support the role of final
consumer in smart grid features, researches at Institute of
Power and Applied Electrical Engineering at Slovak Technical
University in Bratislava are developing a Smart Home Energy
System (SHEMS). The conceptual architecture of the SHEMS
is displayed on the following Fig. 8.
Smart Home Energy Management System
Home Area Network
SHEMS
Home automation ISP
functions
HA communication
functions

G1 C M WAN

L H2 H3
WAN NN LN
APP Server
Local Network SM/AMI
Accesss Point (LNAP) Gateway
Database
Controlled Loads

C C N

Neighborhood Network
Accesss Point (NNAP)
Smart Grid Demand Side
G1 G2
Fig. 8. Smart Home Energy Mangement System
AMI Head End System

The aim of the research on SHEMS is to provide to the

Fig. 7. Functional reference architecture for smart metring communication final consumer the data from smart meter throughout the local
interface of smart meter (IEC 62056-21 Electricity metering –
data Exchange for meter reading, tariff and load control.
 Part 21: Direct local data Exchange) [7]. In addition to this
base feature, the SHEMS offers to the final consumer:
• selection and display of smart meter data (graphical,
tabular),
• storage and archiving of data and overview of recorded
data,
• information about the current power load and
electricity values parameters (e.g. voltages, currents,
etc.),
• wireless communication,
• manual and automatic control of the home appliances,
• setting of operational profile of controlled loads (daily,
weekly, specific profiles, blocking conditions),
• monitoring of the states of appliances being under
control,
• access to the system through the web server - access
via Smart TV, Smart Phone, respectively anywhere
with an Internet connection,
• user-friendly GUI with “classic” or multimodal
interface,
• selecting loads for demand side control.
Except of the features of SHEMS for the final consumer
needs, the SHEMS will include the functionality for demand
side actions. Upon this functionality, SHEMS will provide the
state of loads assigned to demand control, so the grid operator
will have the information about the power capacity in each
zone to control. The user can also make a decision which
loads can be controlled from grid operator.
III. CONSLUSION
The final consumer and home automation systems are very
important components in smart grid systems. The home is
equipped with appliances that consume, generate or store
energy and usually have no connectivity other than to the
power socket. As today’s home becomes smarter the
majority of the demand side appliances is not networked and
connected to the smart grid. In order to unlock the smart grid
demand side functionality, communication technologies and
home automation systems play a key role. With Smart Home
Energy Management System, the demand response signals are
not sent to appliances directly, but the appliances in customer
premises are controlled via SHEMS. With SHEMS the user
can control the appliances manually or can use a feature that
automatically manages load by interacting with a number of
object devices associated with the SHEMS. This is based on a
flow of communication from the energy service provider to
the SHEMS.
REFERENCES
[1] CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Smart Grid Coordination Group - Reference
Architecture for the Smart Grid (SG CG/RA Smart Grid Reference
Architecture), Brussels, 2012
[2] CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Smart Meters Coordination Group (SM-CG),
Technical report 50572:2011-Functional reference architecture for
communications in smart metering systems, Brussels 2011
[3] Europen Commission Task Force for Smart Grids, Expert Group 1:
Functionalities of smart grids and smart meters, Brusels 2010
[4] A. Shafik, „Smart Metering and Home Automation Solutions for the
Next Decade“, Internation al Conference on Emerging Trends in
Networks and Computer Communications (ETNCC 2011), p.200-204,
Udaipur, April 2011, ISBN 978-1-4577-0239-6
[5] CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Final Report of the Joint Working Group on
Satndards for Smart Grids, Brussels, 2011
[6] S. Klucik, J. Taraba, M. Orgon, D. Adamko, “The Use of PLC
Technology in Broadband Services Offered to Households.”
International Journal of Information Technology and Computer Science.
Vol. 4, Iss. 4 (2012), p.1-8. ISSN 2074-9007.
[7] IEC 62056-21 Electricity metering – data Exchange for meter reading,
tariff and load control. Part 21: Direct local data Exchange.