US scientists learn to talk at home

At the National Research Institute for Renewable Energy Sources (NREL) of the US Department of Energy, which is located in Golden, Colorado, our future is very peculiar. According to the scientists working there, it is not necessary for mankind to strive towards the open space and the black holes infested with it or to build underwater cities extending hundreds of meters into the depths of the ocean. It makes much more sense to make our homes and appliances in them communicate with each other.

Imagine how the solar panels that you installed on the roof of the house “read” the weather forecast on the Internet site indicating that warm and sunny weather is expected today, and realized that there is an opportunity to generate a lot of electricity. Take a look at the screen of your smartphone - there is already a message from your smart home with a proposal to immediately start the washing machine and dishwasher. In this case, you yourself can be at work or somewhere else outside the home. Your physical presence at home is not necessary. Your consent to the implementation of the program (and even then not always) will be quite enough for him. And when the owner returns, the dishes will be washed and the clothes washed due to the coordinated work of intelligent systems that made the right conclusions while communicating between themselves and the outside world, and competently managed the accumulated resources.

And in order to turn their fantasies into reality, the NREL has already begun to test the first versions of such "sociable" houses. However, the goal of scientists in the noble field is to maximize the possibilities of using renewable energy sources and reduce the load on the general-use electrical energy networks.
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Today, solar-powered buildings operate on electrical networks like batteries. When it is possible to accumulate solar energy, solar cells accumulate it, producing electricity that is applicable in everyday life. They are even able to give the surplus accumulated in the general network. And when there is no sun, the house begins to eat as usual, from the general urban electricity system.

When there are few such houses in the district, there is nothing to worry about. But if we think about the future, in which, as we know, each residential building or industrial facility will be equipped with a solar panel or a wind generator, the described scenario can be a huge problem. Constant multiple calls to the general electricity infrastructure will create instability in the entire system, designed for a certain balance of incoming and outgoing electricity.

Smart home can reduce these loads by effectively managing energy consumption. And this, in turn, will allow more attention to be paid to renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly technologies.

Improving the energy efficiency of homes plays a key role in reducing the negative impact on climate ", says Dane Christensen, senior engineer of the NREL project." Now it is residential buildings and industrial facilities that account for the bulk of gas emissions leading to global warming. Even transport does not harm so much, and we intend to correct this situation.

The laboratory of the institute resembles Alibaba's cave, only with the intertwining of wires and pipes under the ceiling and closely standing appliances instead of mountains of gold and precious stones. There are refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines, water heaters, dryers, the room is equipped with a control system for lighting and air conditioning. All these devices and systems are the main consumers of electricity in any home.

The “test site” of the project consists of three houses with varying degrees of “intelligence” of the systems with which it is equipped. This is necessary so that, under the same external conditions, engineers and scientists can simulate different scenarios: the August heat of Houston or the Colorado sun noon, for example. Over time, project participants can see what will change if they put up different air conditioning control programs in their homes or owners of electric cars en masse and at the same time decide to put their iron horses on recharging.

As scientists hope, once all the devices in the house will communicate with each other, “negotiating” about the most efficient energy consumption. And, more importantly, the houses themselves will begin to communicate with each other. Such "communication" is already underway in between, but on a very modest scale. To bring this communication to a new level, it is necessary to change the consciousness of people. And this is already happening.



The company Xcel Energy from the same state of Colorado offers its customers to participate in the program "Saver's Switch" ( approx. Trans. From English. "Switch for Lean" - Alyery ). Buyers install a special device in their homes, which from time to time turns the air conditioners on and off, thus reducing the load on the electrical network on hot days. As a reward for thrift, program participants receive $ 40 from the company for electricity bills. A similar program operates in Fort Collins municipal enterprises.

The recent loud purchase of Google by the company for the production of smart thermostats Nest also drew attention to the topic of energy efficiency. People are beginning to think more and more often that it would be nice to have a reasonable approach to the issue of heat, water and electricity consumption.

However, one should not think that the purchase of the newest washing machine with a high energy-saving class from a well-known manufacturer and a couple of high-tech new products from start-ups loudly announcing themselves can change our consumer habits and reduce utility bills by themselves.

The main weak link in the new chain of responsible attitude to consumed resources is the complexity of the integration of various devices and systems among themselves. There is nothing really worth buying 20 smart devices and 20 smart applications for your smartphone, "reflects Brian Hannegan, deputy director of the project." This will not bring you any good, nor others. It’s important to correctly connect all parts of the equation and large-scale application of practices.

Large companies and industrial enterprises are increasingly introducing automation systems that allow them to regulate resource consumption and receive discounts from the government for electricity and water. It is logical to transfer this practice to the whole society. And there is hope that this will happen soon enough. In Fort Collins, they expect to take this step in the spring of next year. ( Moscow also has daily and nightly tariffs for electricity - note. Per. ) And within 5 years this could be the main technological trend in the United States.

Based on: www.kunc.org/post/colorado-lab-tests-smart-home-where-dishwashers-talk-grid