Web services for indoor energy management in a smart grid environment

Smart grid aims to empower the current power grid with the capability of supporting two-way energy and information flow; and facilitating the integration of advanced computer technology and renewable energy sources into the grid. We assume a smart home with a wireless sensor network based on Zigbee. The smart home contains elements like light or temperature sensors at every room, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), smart appliances, thermostat and smart meter. Furthermore, there is a central computer that can communicate with all these elements. Web service is implemented on central computer and it can be accessed over the internet. The paper proposes an approach that makes use of the web services technologies to remotely interact with smart home elements in a smart grid environment. These interactions include adjusting the temperature according to personal preference or reading energy consumption. Furthermore, utility provider can interact with the smart home via web services and can facilitate demand response or selling energy back to the grid. Some scenarios are shown to describe the interactions in more detail. The performance, advantage and limitations of the radio communications between user (e.g., utility provider) and elements via web services are demonstrated in this paper.