Development of a home energy management system

Abstract

This report aims to discuss the development of Home Energy Management System (HEMS). The system was experimented using Smart Home Controller (SHC) and various Smart Home Devices (SHD) such as smart plugs with the web application like EmonPi and EmonCMS. By implementing this system, the electricity consumption in a household can be monitored and analysed. In order to view the result of HEMS in a full house range, LabVIEW GUI was established. With the assist of EmonCMS, the real time information for electricity consumption can be downloaded as .csv file. The downloaded .csv file will be used in LabVIEW GUI for simulation and plotting. Demand Side Management technique is utilised in LabVIEW GUI to optimise the electricity usage. By adopting this technique, the electricity consumption will be cut down, cost will be reduced and protection to the environment will improve with lesser carbon emission. Moreover, it also eases the supplier side with the customers’ load pattern changed, the resource can be implemented for better utilisation. The HEMS was designed with three different tariff rates with a different period which is peak, off-peak and normal hour. In LabVIEW GUI, HEMS was developed in 5 modes, wherein customer can view, control, analyse and reduce the electricity usage. For additional features, solar panel and battery system are also developed in HEMS.