Energy Management of Smart Homes with Microgrid

Over a third of the world’s primary energy is consumed by buildings, smart planning of energy supply to buildings is important to conserve energy and protect the environment. Most energy-consuming domestic tasks can be performed within a time period rather than at specific times. Energy cost or emissions could be reduced if these flexible tasks can be scheduled co-ordinately among multiple homes. This chapter addresses the problem of energy management of smart homes with microgrid, where the operation of distributed energy resources (DERs) and electricity-consumption household appliances are scheduled. A review of relevant literature works for smart homes with microgrid is presented. Then an optimisation-based framework is proposed to describe the related energy management problems of smart homes with microgrid. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for three different objectives is developed: total cost minimisation, fair cost distribution, and cost versus CO₂ emissions. The application of this model is illustrated through an illustrative example of a smart building. The modelling approach developed in this work and the results obtained suggest that optimisation-based energy management of smart homes with microgrid results in cost saving and CO₂ emissions reduction. Moreover, the optimal operation schedules of the DERs, including thermal/electrical storage, are discussed.