MOBILE APP ENABLED SMART ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This developed work is a comprehensive smart system that integrates various technologies to optimize energy usage, minimize energy costs, environmental effects and reduce energy waste without affecting production and its quality. Methods needed to achieve this involve hardware connection processes like calibration of some sensors for energy monitoring, development of remote energy management and control system (EMCS), development of energy management and control algorithm. The developed smart EMCS was designed to provide real-time monitoring, control and improvement of electrical energy usage in Nigeria residential environment. The smart EMCS in terms of carrying out the real-time monitoring functions has Current Transformers (CTs), energy monitoring module sensors to obtain energy consumption and ESP32 which reads energy data periodically and timestamps it using the RTC module. It as well stores the energy data locally on SD card and/or send data wirelessly to cloud server. In terms of control function of the system, the ESP32 receives control commands from the mobile app via Wi-Fi and these commands trigger the relay modules to switch ON/OFF specific loads. However, the smart system’s built-in algorithms in ESP32 detect abnormal energy usage patterns, suggest or automate load shedding or carry out scheduled operations functions via the mobile app. During testing processes, the percentage accuracy values of the used sensors after calibrations have values between 95% - 98%, confirming that those sensors provide high-fidelity data suitable for real-time automation. Also, the relay response time shows that Auto mode achieved the fastest response time of 200ms among the three modes of operation, while the Offline mode recorded the highest delay or achieved the slowest response time of 500ms. Furthermore, the amount of energy consumed before the implementation of the smart EMCS was 12.5KWh, while 6.0KWh was recorded after the implementation of this smart EMCS in a prototype residential environment. This result shows a 52% reduction in energy used across the test period of 24hrs, evidence that the developed smart system works properly.