"Save Energy. Save Money. Save the Planet."
Smart House
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To achieve significant savings in electricity consumed in a home, it needs to create a SMART house in which the various devices are able to communicate with each other and with the network through a core.
The core of the system is the controller that controls the informations and activate the solutions: this a system capable of automate a house or building including energy management, security, comfort and communication.
The currrent systems/devices on the market for the realization of this have a very elevated cost (for a simple smart smoke detector the cost is about $ 200, much more for more complex ones controlling more than one thing) and they are:
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Installed in the single applicances not allowing a controller to manage them
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or they are wired for a particular network (very expensive and with dedicated routers) that does not allow modularity and flexibility of management.
What we wanted to create is an open modular and expandible system, not expensive, that according to the needs can be adapted to the customer's requests and reduce energy bill: SMART HOUSE ENERGY SAVING KIT on the ARDUINO platform.
The resulting energy savings are low-cost, extremely modular and can be managed remotely. The application has therefore enabled savings by checking:
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turning off and turning on lights and devices such as TV based on need and presence in the room
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the lowering and/or raising of the blinds in order not to allow sunlight to heat a room too much and/or properly light the room with sunlight without the aid of artificial light
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adjust the speed of electric motor present in the appliacens
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Control the temperature (HVAC or Boiler) in the rooms according to the weather and to the persons in the house
Arduino Platform is an open source computer hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the physical and digital world.
It basically consists of a box connected to the power supply and to which the user connects the appliances and devices.
In hardware terms the most important part is the local controller, an Arduino board, which will be the core of the application, the one that will be communicated with the mobile application and where the sensors and actuators will be connected. The sensors needed to capture desired environmental variables are temperature, lighting, movement and water level sensors and to control these variables a fan, some LED, an acoustic warning and a water pump are required. Finally, to make effective the necessary communication between the board and the mobile will be needed a Bluetooth or WIFI device.
The package will do:
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Simple security with cameras, SMART detectors and SMART door lock
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Energy saving of 20%-40% of the energy bill
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SMART HOUSE manageable from mobile application
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NJ and Federal incentives ( 15%-30% of the cost)
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Payback time in 8 or 12 months ( with or without the NJ and federal incentives
The SMART HOUSE ENERGY SAVING KIT can be integrated also in the solar plant with sensors to resolve issues and improve the panels functioning.
See further below how is done in technical words but for simplicity:
The solar panels are connected in strings (in series). If one malfunctions (it is shaded) or gets less energy for some defect, the all system is affected because the string current amperage goes reduces. With ARDUINO system, I can sense that and get the defected panel removed (4 sensors for panel corners). The same sensors are usefull if panels are installen in a rotating axe. They can detect what position the light is stronger and make the panel rotate accordingly. This can increase up to 40% of energy efficiency in both newer and older panels.