Energy and Power

Smart Energy (SE) improves energy efficiency at the user end. SE enables the overall efficiency of the grid (or so-called the Smart Grid). SE is concerned with:

  • High-quality and reliable energy sources:
    • Load adjustment & demand-response support.
  • Effective energy management through consumer participation:
    • Improved user interface/experience.
    • Improved decision support.
  • Accommodation of distributed generation.
  • Support for plug-in home electric vehicles.
  • Reduced carbon footprint.
  • Cost reduction.


Image courtesy of U.S. Dept. of Energy

The requirements of SE are:

  • Applications:
    • Home automation and control.
    • Real-time information through monitoring.
    • Analytics .
    • User interface.
  • Communications:
    • Commission.
    • Control.
  • Security:
    • Authentication.
    • Integrity.
  • Performance:
    • Availability
    • Reliability
    • Maintainability
  • Operations, maintenance & logistics (OM&L):
    • Manufacturing, distribution & installation
    • Manage & maintain  

Analytics Application for Energy Management

SMI has developed a proof-of-concept (POC) application to showcase the expansion of our predictive analytics expertise into the energy management domain (see September 2011 Press Release). SMI's interest in efficiency management and predictive maintenance of energy and power systems is a natural extension from our core competency of prognostics and health management of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. We envision that analytics applications will empower the owners and managers of homes, buildings, and premises to improve energy efficiency, save money, and reduce their overall carbon footprint. We believe that these analytics-powered applications can keep people engaged in personalized, active energy management and respond to time-critical demands for load changes.

This POC is a touch screen, embedded application that can run on a tablet computer and other mobile devices. It stores energy usage and cost data locally, and analyzes the data to recommend thermostat setting and energy efficiency tips. The data structure of the POC is the same as SMI's aviation remote monitoring software iTrend®. With the same data structure, this POC and all future analytics-powered applications can "talk" to the cloud-based analytics remote management server like the SMI's iPredict® system.

Experimental Home for Analytics Development

SMI has been working with various partners to collect energy data within a home in the Phoenix area. While the whole-home energy consumption (via a smart meter) has not collected, the focus has been on major appliance consumption within the home.

These data has allowed SMI to gain a better understanding of how electricity is consumed within a household by evaluating individual appliance consumption over specific time periods. Additionally, as a result of this study, SMI has discovered that the power demand of a major appliance cannot be simply labeled "on" or "off". Rather, a dynamic range of consumption based on appliance type and operating conditions. Results like these will improve the accuracy of problem diagnosis and the actions that are specific to context.

In addition, SMI's experimental home has a Wi-Fi enabled thermostat. This thermostat is programmable and has been collecting real-time temperature data both inside and outside of the home. By monitoring the interior temperature of the home, as well as comparing it to the external temperature, SMI can assess the health of not only the HVAC system, but the home's thermal barriers as well.

SMI's experience in Energy Management includes analytics algorithmic development, simulator development for house/building thermal balance and appliance performance, and Analytics Engine software development in Intel's Home Energy Dashboard Reference Design (ref.: www.intel.com/go/energy). Analytics-powered applications like the POC and the advanced analytics like the smart thermostat setting complement the reference design. They can also be readily adapted to other designs and integrated energy management solutions for industrial and commercial premises.