Optimizing energy consumption in smart homes: Load scheduling approaches

Abstract

Rising fuel prices, global warming, and environmental damage are leading to increased demand for rooftop solar energy systems connected to the power grid. The development of smart grids, modern metering systems, and energy management could promote energy conservation in households. In this study, two different meta-heuristic optimization techniques were employed to schedule the shiftable load in suitable hours for decreasing electricity costs and minimizing peak to average ratio in a smart home while maintaining optimum user comfort. For power generation and storing energy, a grid-connected residential load with rooftop solar panels, a battery, and an inverter is considered. First, the problem is theoretically described using a load model and an objective function, with the primary goal of reducing power costs by moving the time of usage for certain home appliances. Simulations validate the proposed strategies, which effectively reduce power costs by 4.5% by shifting the time of use, with both optimization algorithms showing similar output. The residential electricity cost before optimization was 507.12 BDT/day, which decreased to 484.33 BDT/day after optimization without compromising load turn-off.