Intelligent DC Homes in Future Sustainable Energy Systems: When efficiency and Intelligence Work Together

The evidences that climate change is real, and the fact that it is most likely caused by human-related activities, has made the international community to considered a new energy model. Europe has led the initiative of moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energies, where other powerful countries, as USA and China, are lagging behind, and still highly rely on coal, gas and oil as a source of energy. Europe has set ambitious goals for 2020 regarding the increase of renewable energy production, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The concept of a microgrid is perfectly aligned with the new energy strategy. A microgrid easy the integration of renewable energy sources and energy storage systems at the consumption level, aiming to increase power quality, reliability and efficiency. On top of this, the increasing of DC-based loads has re-opened the discussion of DC vs AC distribution systems. As a consequence a lot of research has been done on DC distribution systems and its potential for residential applications. Furthermore, the increasing presence and used of smart devices in homes, reveal a promising future for intelligent homes, integrated in the Internet of Things concept, where the residential electrical power systems works in co-operation with the smart devices, in order to achieve a smarter, more sustainable, and cleaner energy systems.